Covid Indian variant: Public should be worried, says Wales chief medic

Cases of the coronavirus variant of concern have been linked to international travel

People "should be worried" about a resurgence in Covid, with an increase in cases of the Indian variant of concern, the Welsh government's chief medical officer says.

Dr Frank Atherton said the increase to "around 57" cases was "something we need to watch very carefully".

The total last Thursday was 28 cases of B617.2, the variant of concern.

Health minister Eluned Morgan repeated government advice that people take holidays at home to reduce the risk.

Dr Atherton said most cases of the variant of concern were in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, although they had been identified in all health board areas apart from Powys.

He said measures such as social distancing and using face coverings were "the things that keep us safe" and there was risk that the situation could "go into reverse" if those measures were relaxed.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Frank Atherton and Health Minister Eluned Morgan gave an update on Monday

"We should continue on the cautious approach here in Wales," he told journalists at a Welsh government update on the pandemic.

"The public should be worried about the resurgence in coronavirus in general really.

"We have a small number of cases - 57 at the moment of the so-called Indian variant - but that will be an underestimate and I expect the numbers to rise."

Dr Atherton said the cases in Wales were "traceable back to a point of entry, so we're managing them as clusters".

He added: "If we look across the border in to England and certainly in to Scotland, Glasgow area, what seems to be happening there is broader widespread community transmission and that's a much more difficult thing, of course, to contain."

Covid vaccinations have been encouraged in English towns such as Blackburn amid concern about Indian variants

Unlike in Scotland, people in Wales are not being restricted from travelling to places in England with a high number of cases of the Indian variant, Ms Morgan said.

However, she stressed the Welsh government "will be constantly keeping the situation under review".

In her first press conference as health minister, Ms Morgan repeated the advice that people should take their holidays in Wales this year and only go abroad for essential travel.

"Our whole economy could come to a grinding standstill again if we were to let new variants take hold," she said.

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Ms Morgan added the Welsh government had "a responsibility to stand by our own tourism sector and hospitality sector".

"We live in a fantastically beautiful country and I would encourage people to use the opportunity to holiday here in Wales and to support those sectors of the economy that have really suffered during pandemic," she said.