South Africa Covid variant: 'No panic' as Birmingham testing ramps up

Cars queued at the Longbridge Covid-19 testing site in Birmingham on Thursday

Cases of the South Africa variant of Covid-19 found in the West Midlands should not make people "panic", a public health chief has said.

Details emerged on Wednesday of two cases in Birmingham, on top of a single case in Walsall earlier in the week.

Testing capacity has been increased and residents are being urged to get tested even if they do not have symptoms.

Dr Justin Varney, Director of Public Health in Birmingham, said essential workers should get tested on Thursday.

He called on other people working from home to "sit tight" and wait for additional testing sites to come online.

'Responsible thing'

All adults in the Frankley Great Park ward and part of south Northfield area are being asked to get tested.

"I would say don't all rush today. This is not something to panic about," Dr Varney said.

"It's 'please do the responsible thing', but... really we're asking people to test over the next week or so."

Dr Varney called on essential workers from the areas affected who cannot work from home to get tested as soon as possible

Long queues have been seen outside the St Modwen testing site on Longbridge Business Park, which is being made available to people without symptoms.

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Dr Varney said he hoped a facility at the Empire cinema site would operate on Friday.

A series of collection and drop-off points for home testing kits are also due to open in Birmingham on Friday and Saturday.

The two cases in Birmingham are among a family living in neighbouring homes, health officials in the city said, but are not being linked with international travel.

They are not connected to the case in Walsall.

The South Africa variant is one of thousands that have emerged since the original Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China.

While it is not thought to be any more dangerous than other variants circulating in the UK, it spreads more readily and initial research suggests vaccines may be slightly less effective against it.

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