Coronavirus: Surge testing in west London due to Indian variant

A variant of the Covid-19 virus first discovered in India is responsible for the majority of new cases in parts of London

Wider surge testing has been rolled out in five west London boroughs due to a surge in coronavirus cases linked to the Indian variant.

Testing in Ealing, Hillingdon, Brent, Harrow and Hounslow will begin on Monday, the BBC has been told.

It will target secondary schools in the five boroughs and PCR tests will be offered to everyone else in the area who do not have any symptoms.

Cases of the new variant in west London have increased from 400 to 720.

• How much faster does the Indian variant spread?

• Why is the UK taking a risk with the Indian variant?

Harrow Council's director of public health, Carole Furlong, said it was "vital" the additional testing was carried out in order to identify more positive cases.

"There is no difference in what you have to do if you test positive - you and your household still need to isolate for 10 days," she said.

"Our number one priority is to protect our community by stopping the spread of Covid-19, which is why we are carrying out this programme of surge testing."

Analysis

I am told health officials have been keeping a close eye on these five boroughs for a couple of weeks.

Most of the cases of the variant have been in younger people, hence the decision to target schoolchildren and their families.

It will be a massive task as there are tens of thousands of secondary school children in each of the boroughs.

But, they hope that by doing this, they will prevent the variant spreading to older people in these areas who have not yet been vaccinated.

Alongside it will come a push to persuade those who've not yet come forward to get the jab to do so now, and more supplies of vaccines are promised for these areas next week.

While the focus for now is on this part of London, it seems unlikely it will just stay here.