Cases of SA variant found with no link to travel

[bathsh3ba]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55534727

I guess it was inevitable but let's hope it doesn't take off like the other variant.

It will. It was inevitable. Its depressing now.

Yep, inevitable with all the free travel and non-enforcement of quarantine (even exemption from quarantine if you were wealthy enough) that was happening in December.
Even now, it is perfectly possible to arrive here from SA flying via other places.

This government: foreign travel and money > public health

The last i heard they said 2 cases then 77 cases.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-55786409

I have no idea how common uk and South African travel was .
Up until Christmas we had daily flight's to London Heathrow now sure if any flight's to other regional airports.
Is that why they just door knocking South east.
Would have liked to see more details in the new BBC article.
I saw Peston mention it on its lunch news saying contact tracing being taken more seriously.
I wonder how many random community cases?
Could it be airports staff?

I get impression all scientists more concerned South African varient than very other its a different to the Kent version.

Could also have evolved coincidentally.

It's ridiculous. But the travel bane would have needed to be from the whole world as newspapers were already showing people coming back from say Brazil who said they would just come back from another country.
Our lack of masks in say schools and offices will make this worse as people will just take it in and it start spreading.
There really is no place for they are low risk etc

I think it was inevitable, yes, but we don't yet know how it will behave and how effective the current vaccines will be against this variant. They could still be very effective or much less. They should still offer a degree of immunity, but honestly, there will likely be more variants causing concern over the next few months and if we go into panic mode every time, it's going to be an even bumpier road to recovery.

As hard as it is, we really do need to accept that this will be our normal for a while yet.

The two cases refers to cases with no known link to SA, the 77 cases is a previous news report of people with known links.

I don't think we're allowed to talk about this here......

Maybe it’s just mutating the same way into the same variant.

If cases are falling massively, does it matter which variant is doing the rounds? 🤷‍♀️

Ok after watching Preston on itv then sky news and felt bit down.
As over 100. I wasent sure if this meant non related travel.
Watching BBC who are milking the issues its 11 non travel related incidents over 8 postcodes some south east Midlands and Liverpool.
Not quite as dramatic as 100 plus no idea how they got it.

@3asAbird 11 non travel incidents in 8 areas is massive. It means they are unlikely to be linked to each other either so it’s seeded in the community in many different areas. Not good.

Of course. The government admitted ages ago that so many people don’t quarantine, this was bound to happen.

@Graciebobcat

If cases are falling massively, does it matter which variant is doing the rounds? 🤷‍♀️

It matters because vaccine efficacy may be lower against this variant. The data from recent vaccine trials also suggests that reinfection may be more likely with this variant, but small numbers, so lots of caution needed/high uncertainty.

[quote testingtesting321]@3asAbird 11 non travel incidents in 8 areas is massive. It means they are unlikely to be linked to each other either so it’s seeded in the community in many different areas. Not good.[/quote]
I feel there must be something that's linking these 11.
Not travel south Africa but maybe shared airport or public travel bus or train .
11 is better than 100plus.
They really not giving any details other than postcodes.
Hopefully they get to bottom of it.

There isn't such a thing as coincidental identical evolution.

This thread will be deleted soon I expect.

Its not just 11 though is it. They are setting up mobile testing after analysing something like 4% of tests, is that right? if so 11 is already the tip of a very large iceberg.

11 is all they have found so far...

To be honest I think the fact it’s gone so far as door to door testing it’s a bit concerning,.

I heard people on a radio phone in last week talking about how they'd flown in from SA via the Middle East and Europe. They said they were among many people on their flights doing the same thing. Neither of the people I heard had been subject to any checks on their quarantine.

Yep, the flights (via another country) are still coming in.

Yes, that’s what bothers me @Bluntness100
Doesn’t this seem to be bit of a panic?

We're waiting for a random to show up on our doorstep and test us, as we're in the same town as one of those postcodes! My in-laws are in the actual postcode, but it's across town from us.

@StealthPolarBear

This thread will be deleted soon I expect.

Why?