Testing plea to help contain 'inevitable' spread of new Covid variant
Community leaders have been urged to help curb the inevitable spread of the new strain of Covid-19 to other parts of the West Midlands.
Dr Justin Varney said a South African strain of the virus – which has so far seen one case Walsall – is certain to hit other parts of the region.
Birmingham's director of public health called on people to play their part in stopping the virus from spreading, saying community leaders could play a key role in areas struck by the new strain by encouraging people to get tested.
Health chiefs in Walsall are aiming to test more than 10,000 people in the WS2 postcode area of the borough after a case was identified last week.
Speaking at a meeting on the vaccine rollout hosted by West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, Dr Varney said two variants in South Africa now made up 90 per cent of all new infections over there.
He said the variant is believed to be more infectious and may lead to more people being admitted to hospital.
Concerns
"There are also concerns that we know the vaccines work against the South African variant, but they don't work quite as well," he added. "That's a small difference but an important difference.
"We've all got to play our part now in trying to keep it under control and stop these variants spreading.
"Walsall is the first. There will be others in the West Midlands, I'm sure."
Calling on community leaders and faith leaders to encourage people to get tested, he added: "When the call comes, and when the local authority says we are doing enhanced testing in your area, please add your voice to that call and encourage everyone to take up that testing.
"We defend best by being able to identify these variations of concern quickly and containing the spread."
More than 100 cases of the new variant have been identified in the UK. The Walsall case is one of 11 in the UK that have no known links to travel or previous cases.
Infections across the region have fallen sharply in recent days, although the four Black Country boroughs remain in the top 20 in the country for cases.
In the seven days to January 28, Walsall's infection rate was 480.9 per 100,000 people, the seventh highest in the country and a 32 per cent drop on the previous seven days.
