SEWAGE will be tested for a super-infectious Covid mutation as Boris Johnson mulls local lockdowns for hotspots.
Health chiefs will check waste amid fears the Indian variant could delay the final stage of the PM’s roadmap to freedom, currently planned for June 21.
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The strain – which could be 50 per cent more transmissible than the Kent variant that swept the UK over the winter – is now in 40 per cent of local authorities in England.
Worryingly, it’s also dominant in 23 areas.
It comes as:
- The travel traffic lights plan is in chaos as one minister says ALL foreign holidays are ‘dangerous’ – while another says they are ‘essential’
- Wembley and Stamford Bridge could be used as mass Covid vaccination centres for over-18s in fight to beat India variant
- Big events without masks and social distancing are as safe as restaurants or shopping centres, Covid trials suggest
- Covid deaths have dropped by 98 per cent in over-60s since Brits began getting jabbed
- A one-second coronavirus spit test could slash waiting times and help the world reopen
Data from hospitals in areas worst-hit by the variant is being gathered as the Government ponders whether restrictions can be lifted altogether.
And sewage is also under surveillance in a bid to find where the variant could take root next.
Mr Johnson is reportedly set to tell Brits what they can expect as early as next week.
Warnings that lockdown may not end next month come just days after Brits were finally allowed to drink a pint indoors again and hug loved ones under step three of the roadmap.
And while the Prime Minister has said there’s “nothing conclusive” to suggest he should deviate from the plans to relax even more restrictions, he added: “We’ve got to be cautious.”
It comes amid a growing row over the number of flights allowed into the UK from India – even after it was added to the red list.
More than 20,000 passengers arrived from the Covid-ravaged country as the PM delayed imposing a travel ban.
India was not added to the red list until April 23 – almost a month after the variant was first detected in the UK.
And even since the country was added to the list, 110 direct flights have landed in Britain, LBC reports.
Today, four flights from Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru will land at Heathrow alone.
Downing Street has refused to rule out the possibility of the tier system returning.
Matt Hancock has promised to take whatever action is needed – and wouldn’t say regional measures won’t make a return.
Ministers are privately cautious about the possibility of returning to local measures, and the PM has insisted he wants the country to move together.
But the variant is now the dominant virus in hot spots such as Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen.
Both Sefton and Bedford have been labelled as areas of concern, and figures show the variant accounts for eight in ten cases of hospital admissions.
This is also the case in Bolton, Blackburn, Chelmsford and Croydon.
And Mr Johnson is likely to face pressure as he faces MPs during Prime Minister’s Questions today.
Facing Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in a six-question round for the first time since the local elections and the Queen’s Speech, the Prime Minister is set to face tough questions on the spread of the variant.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth is preparing to tell MPs: “Boris Johnson promised us an irreversible roadmap to normality.
“With the spread of the B1617.2 variant threatening to hold us back, we need urgent action from ministers to contain this variant.”
Meanwhile, India has set another record for daily Covid fatalities – even as infections drop.
The Health Ministry today reported 4,529 deaths in the last 24 hours, driving the overall toll to 283,248.
India also confirmed 267,334 new infections, as daily cases dropped below 300,000 for the third consecutive day. Both numbers are almost certainly undercounts.
