Reports of rise in Indian variation of Covid-19 in Northern Ireland

By Q Radio News

There has been a slight increase in the number of Covid-19 cases linked to the Indian variant in Northern Ireland. 

Reports suggest that there are now 16 confirmed cases of the highly contagious strain in the region - up from 12 last week. 

The Public Health Agency has said it will not comment on the figures until official numbers are published on Thursday.

There has been a slight increase in the number of Covid-19 cases linked to the Indian variant of the virus in Northern Ireland. https://t.co/vYKpx7vVPj

— Q Radio News (@qnewsdesk) May 17, 2021

The BBC is reporting that the spike in cases has been chalked up to travel rather than community transmission.

The spike comes as Bolton, in the north of England, battles the rapid spread of the new strain.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said the majority of patients in hospitals in the town in Greater Manchester were unvaccinated.

Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme that hospitals there are mainly treating people who have not been vaccinated.

He said: "It's always a bit difficult with this because on the one hand, when you see a variant increasing rapidly, it could be because it's intrinsically more transmissible - it's something to do with the genetics of the mutations in the virus.

"Or it could be that it just happens to have got into a community where the virus is spreading rapidly because people are living in overcrowded housing, so disentangling that can be quite difficult."

(Medical experts say that unvaccinated people are most at risk of contracting the Indian strain of the virus)