Where has the South African Covid variant been found? UK Postcodes for mass testing revealed
8 February 2021, 15:47 | Updated: 9 February 2021, 10:59
Areas in which the South African Covid strain has been detected are being urged to stay home - but where has the variant been found in the UK? Here are the postcodes offered further testing.
Coronavirus’ new South African strain has been detected across the UK with around 147 cases now confirmed.
With many of these Covid cases said to have no link to travel, and now the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine proving to be less effective against this new strain - there are fears it could spread across the country like the UK variant.
However, the Government are taking precautionary measures to stop the spread of the virus including a travel ban, quarantine hotels after trips abroad and surge testing in communities where the strain has been detected.
How many coronavirus variants in the UK are there?
So where has the South African Covid variant been found in the UK? What are the postcodes? And what is surge testing? Here’s the latest information:
Where has the South African Covid variant been found in the UK? What postcodes need testing?
At the moment, eight postcodes across England are being offered mass surge testing in order to find out more about the South African variant.
The postcodes, where the SA strain has been found, are:
W7: Hanwell, West London
N17: Tottenham, North London
CR4: Mitcham, South London
WS2: Walsall, West Midlands
EN10: Broxbourne, Hertfordshire
ME15: Maidstone, Kent
GU21: Woking, Surrey
PR9: Southport, Merseyside
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What is surge testing and why is it important?
Surge testing is the dramatically increased testing in certain areas.
Those to have the South African variant in their postcode are being urged to stay indoors and have a Covid test, even if they’re not displaying symptoms.
From door to door testing to mobile testing units being set up, Matt Hancock is said he hopes the increased testing will help us to find out more about the SA variant including symptoms, how it spreads and much more.
