The public should prepare for a possible tightening of Covid restrictions in the wake of the new Covid variant first found in southern Africa, a top scientist has warned.
Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said new restrictions cannot be ruled out.
“On the one hand, I don’t want to induce unnecessary anxiety in people, but on the other hand, I think we all need to be ready for the possibility of a change in the restrictions,” he told Good Morning Britain.
The scientist was speaking hours before Sajid Javid made a statement to the Commons warning the B.1.1.529 ‘Nu’ variant could pose a substantial risk to public health.
Mr Javid said early indications suggested the variant could be more transmissible and current vaccines may be less effective.
Professor Finn said: “We now need to wait and see just what kind of threat this new variant may pose.”
The chief medical adviser for the UK Health Security Agency said it was the “most complex” and “worrying” strain detected so far during the pandemic.
Ministers on Thursday night put an effective travel ban on six countries - South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe - as part of a “safety first” approach.
Passengers who return to the UK from these countries after Sunday at 4am will be forced to pay for hotel quarantine, costing £2,285 for a single person.
Sequencing is being carried out across the UK to determine whether any cases of the variant have already been imported. Mr Javid said by Friday no cases had been found in the UK.
“There are a number of things going on now to understand this, to look for it, to trace it, to hopefully stamp it out if it is already here”, said Professor Finn.
