UK cases of Indian variant double to nearly 7,000 in a week

Britain has seen a total of nearly 7,000 cases of the B.1.617.2 coronavirus variant of concern first identified in India, more than double the previous total, Public Health England (PHE) said on Thursday.

PHE said that there were a total of 6,959 confirmed cases of the variant, up 3,535 from the total reported last week.

People visit an NHS mobile vaccination and testing unit at Northumberland Retail Park as cases of the Indian-origin coronavirus variant continue to rise in Shiremoor, North Tyneside, Britain May 25, 2021.