A Government advisor said he is "very concerned" about the spread of the Indian variant stating it could be the start of the third wave.
It comes amid growing confidence within the Government that the vaccines available in the UK will work against the Indian strain and that the B1617.2 mutation will prove less transmissible than first feared.
Almost 3,000 cases of the Indian variant have been identified in the UK - up from the 2,323 declared on Monday - and surge testing has been announced in a number of areas in a bid to control its spread.
Public Health surge testing teams were deployed to Formby and Ainsdale on Friday, after a spike in cases in the borough.
Sefton Council confirmed the presence of the new highly transmissible variant in the borough last Tuesday (May 11).
There is good news amid growing confidence within the Government that the vaccines available in the UK will work against the Indian strain and that the B1617.2 mutation will prove less transmissible than first feared, reports WalesOnline.
Andrew Hayward, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at University College London (UCL) and a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), added that "more generalised" measures may be needed.
On Thursday, Professor Hayward, told BBC Breakfast he is “very concerned” about the spread of the B1.617.2 variant.
Asked if the UK is at the start of a third wave of infections, he says: “I think so.”
He says the strain has spread very effectively within households and out into the broader community and is likely to spread to other parts of the country.
Prof Hayward said: "Obviously we're doing everything we can to contain the spread of that but it's likely that more generalised measures may start to be needed to control it."
He says over the next week or two it will become clear how much the local outbreaks are spreading through the whole population.
A third wave has always been likely but its size will depend on how transmissible the variant is and how many people are vaccinated, Prof Hayward says.
