South African Covid-19 variant in Neath and North Wales

The news was confirmed by health minister Vaughan Gething during today’s Welsh Government briefing.

He said 10 of the cases have been attributed to travel in connection with South Africa, but the source of the other three had not yet been identified, and are being investigated.

Of these three, one of them was found in Neath Port Talbot and two in North Wales. It is not known where the 10 Welsh cases of the variant that have been traced to travel to South Africa are located.

Mr Gething said: “The South African variant is one of three new variants. The other two are from Brazil. The new variants are more contagious than the previous ones.”

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He explained how the suspension of travel corridors means anyone coming into Wales needs to quarantine for 10 days along with their household and he further explained the procedure being taken to identify the source of the transmission in Wales.

“Everyone returning to the UK from parts of the world where the variants are present must quarantine with the rest of their household," said Mr Gething.

"All will be offered tests and if positive, all household contacts will be sent tests and tests will then be sent on for further testing.

“Testing and tracing is ongoing to find out how these people contracted the variant. We are working around the clock to find out how they were infected and keep people safe.”

Mr Gething also explained how they were having detailed testing done using Public Health Wales epidemiologists and the track and trace system.

He also said how there are no plans at this time to offer door to door testing like in South Africa and there will be further meetings to discuss if a targeted approach is needed for testing.