Concern increases over India variant in UK

Public health experts have recommended a version of the Indian Covid variant found in the UK to be made a "variant of concern", the BBC has been told.

Public Health England (PHE) has been tracking a variant known as B.1.617.2, which appears to have been spreading more quickly in the UK than others.

Scientists believe it is more transmissible than the version of Covid first discovered in Wuhan, China.

A spokesman for PHE said it would not comment on leaked data.

Viruses mutate all the time, producing different versions of themselves. Most of these mutations are insignificant – and some may even make the virus less dangerous – but others can make it more contagious and harder to vaccinate against.

The Kent, South Africa and Brazil strains have all been deemed "variants of concern" in the UK. These versions, along with the India variant, have all undergone changes to their spike protein – the part of the virus which attaches to human cells.

The original India variant – officially known as B.1.617 – was first detected in the country in October.

That version has now been re-characterised as three different subtypes, all with slightly different genetic mutations.

The UK has seen a sharp increase in one version in particular, known as B.1.617.2, which now makes up the majority of all Indian variant cases and appears to be growing faster than other versions.