Daniel Holland
Local Democracy Reporter

There have been 19 cases of the so-called Indian variant of Covid-19 detected across the North East – although health bosses say the numbers here remain the lowest of anywhere in England.

Three of the cases were travel-related, but no further information has been provided on where the 19 cases are.

The number covers all of Newcastle, Northumberland, Gateshead, North and South Tyneside, Sunderland, County Durham, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton, Hartlepool, and Darlington.

Earlier this week, North Tyneside Council confirmed that at least eight Covid cases had been linked to an outbreak among staff at the Allard’s Lounge bar in Tynemouth.

Newcastle City Council also confirmed the strain had been detected in the city, but declined to say when or where it had been found.

Image source, Getty Images

Public Health England said there was “currently no evidence that this variant causes more severe illness, increased risk of mortality or makes the current vaccines any less effective”.

Prof Peter Kelly, regional director of Public Health England North East, said: “We are not seeing many cases of the Indian variant of concern in the North East compared to other parts of the country; however, we must not be complacent with this or any other variant."

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Another large vaccination centre has opened in the region.

It's at Hexham Mart and will be able to vaccinate up to 800 people a day and is open from 08:00 to 20:00.

Northumberland's director of public heath, Liz Morgan, said: "People living in our rural communities have opted not to go to the Centre for Life in Newcastle, preferring to wait for their GP to contact them because for many people it's a long way for them to travel and not everyone has a car, so being able to provide access like this is a really important step forward."

Among the first people receiving the vaccine was Helen Anderson (pictured above) who's seven months pregnant with her third child, and said it was good to get the jab close to home: "You can fit it into how your life works with school runs and it cuts down on the travel time, so it's much better to be local."

There are eight other mass vaccination centres in operation across the North East and Cumbria, at Nightingale Centres, football grounds, sports and shopping centres, as well as at Penrith auction mart.

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