South Africa variant: Covid tests ramped up in Walsall

A new unit for Covid-19 patients at Walsall Manor Hospital was opened last month to ease pressure within critical care

Testing for Covid-19 is to be ramped up in the West Midlands after confirmation a case of the South African variant was identified in Walsall.

The case is not being linked to international travel and the council is working with Public Health England in a bid to stop it spreading.

Residents in the WS2 postcode area are being urged to get tested this week.

Home testing kits will be issued and a mobile unit is being set up in the borough.

Health teams hope to reach an extra 10,000 people, even those who have had their vaccine.

A regional meeting on Monday heard just one case of the South African variant had so far been found in Walsall. It is believed to relate to a positive test in December.

However, Dr Justin Varney, Director of Public Health in Birmingham, said there were likely to be other cases so far undetected in the West Midlands.

Two cases have also been found in Surrey, and testing will also take place in London, Kent, Hertfordshire and West Lancashire.

Everyone aged over 16 living or working in the WS2 postcode are being urged to get tested

Stephen Craddock, cabinet member for health and wellbeing at Walsall Council, said the individual who tested positive in the borough, a male, had no history of travel so the virus had come about through community transmission.

Birchills Leamore, Blakenhall and Bloxwich East fall into the WS2 postcode and the council is looking at exactly which of the areas to target, he added.

Stephen Gunther, Director of Public Health in Walsall, said there was currently no evidence the variant caused more severe illness, or that vaccines would not protect against it, but research showed it was transmitted more easily.

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He said the more cases were found, the better the chance of "suppressing it".

Faith and other community leaders in Walsall are being asked to help encourage everyone over the age of 16 living or working in the WS2 postcode to get tested, even if they do not have symptoms.

Currently in Walsall, 480.9 people out of 100,000, tested positive for coronavirus for the week ending 28 January, one of the highest rates in England. But the figures show the rate of infection dropped by 33% from the week before.

Analysis by Dr David Gregory-Kumar, science, environment and rural affairs correspondent.

All viruses mutate and there are 1000's of slightly different versions of the coronavirus out there.

What worries scientists is when a variant starts to spread and become dominant because that usually means it's more infectious. On top of this vaccines can also be less effective against them.

That's the case with the South African variant. Just as we are making progress with vaccination along comes a new version of the virus that could potentially knock those gains back a bit.

We need to understand what's happened with the South African variant in Walsall.

That's why everyone in WS2 who is over 16 needs to get tested. That will allow us to find anyone with the new variant and get them to isolate.

If we can break the chain of infection and stop this outbreak in its tracks we pull ahead again in the ongoing race between infection and injection.

Nationwide, the cases caused by the variant were identified as part of Public Health England's random checks on tests. It is not known how many have been identified in all.

Dr Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Advisor for NHS Test and Trace said a small proportion had no link to international travel and in response, testing was being "ramped up" in targeted areas.

The variant now accounts for 90% of all infections in South Africa, Dr Varney said, adding it was one of thousands of variants of Covid-19 discovered.

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• GLOBAL SPREAD: How many worldwide cases are there?