Professor Chris Whitty has issed a statement on the new new strain of coronavirus that has been detected in England - and says it can spread more quickly.
The chief medical officer for England says the UK has now alerted the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Work is currently being undertaken to see whether or not the new strain causes a higher mortality rate or affects vaccines and treatments.
However Prof Whitty says there is no evidence at this stage to suggest this.
He said in his statement: “As announced on Monday, the UK has identified a new variant of Covid-19 through Public Health England’s genomic surveillance.
“As a result of the rapid spread of the new variant, preliminary modelling data and rapidly rising incidence rates in the South East, the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) now consider that the new strain can spread more quickly.
“We have alerted the World Health Organisation and are continuing to analyse the available data to improve our understanding.
“There is no current evidence to suggest the new strain causes a higher mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments, although urgent work is under way to confirm this.
“Given this latest development, it is now more vital than ever that the public continue to take action in their area to reduce transmission.”
The Prime Minister will host a cabinet call “shortly” and will later hold a press conference with the chief medical officer Chris Whitty and the chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.
Ministers met yesterday to discuss how to deal with a new strain of coronavirus which is spreading through London, Essex and Kent.
And now, the Mirror reports, they will meet again today as the Prime Minister comes under pressure over controversial plans to ease restrictions over Christmas.
