Covid-19: India red list add 'may be too late', Prof Mark Walport says

Covid-19: India red list add 'may be too late', Prof Mark Walport says

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India's addition to สล็อต168 the UK's "red list" of banned countries due to rising Covid cases and concerns over a new variant may have come too late, the UK's former chief scientific adviser has said.

Prof Mark Walport told the BBC he believed the new variant was "more transmissible" and there were "good reasons" for keeping it out of the UK.

Health officials say it is too early to know whether it is more transmissible.

India has been reporting more than 200,000 cases daily since 15 April.

Its capital Delhi announced a week-long lockdown after a record spike in cases overwhelmed the city's healthcare system.

From 04:00 BST on Friday 23 April, most people who have travelled from India in the last 10 days will be refused entry to the UK.

British or Irish passport holders, or people with UK residence rights, will be allowed in but must quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 10 days.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to hold a coronavirus press briefing in Downing Street at 17:00 BST.

He will joined by the medical director of primary care for NHS England, Dr Nikita Kanani.

Of the decision to put India on the UK's red list, Prof Walport told BBC Breakfast: "These decisions are almost inevitably taken a bit too late in truth, but what's absolutely clear is that this variant is more transmissible in India."

He said he believed it was becoming the "dominant variant" in India, while there were also concerns it could be more effective at escaping a natural or vaccine-induced immune response, "so there's good reasons for wanting to keep it out of the country if at all possible".