UK imposes fresh curbs after 3rd Covid strain detected in South Africa

The United Kingdom has imposed fresh curbs after a third strain of the novel coronavirus was reported in the country in contacts of cases who have travelled from South Africa. Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed immediate restrictions on travel from South Africa and the government’s urgent message being for anyone who has been in South Africa or been in contact with someone linked with the country in the last fortnight to immediately quarantine. Analysis of the new mutation and its trajectory in the UK is meanwhile being analysed by scientific experts at Porton Down, the country's specialist laboratory in South West England.