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94% of covid cases in Croydon found to be India variant

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In Croydon, 94.1 per cent of analysed covid-positive samples contained the India variant, according to a report in The Guardian.

Based on figures for the two weeks to May 22, the proportion of the India variant found in Croydon had risen from 84.4 per cent in the previous two-week period.

Data from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, which tracks the variants detected in covid-positive samples through genome sequencing, has revealed the variant has spread further across England, and away from “hotspots” where it had first been detected.

The Guardian reports: “The situation has led some scientists to warn that the country is now in the early stages of a third wave of coronavirus which, despite the vaccination programme, modelling suggests could lead to a rise in hospitalisations and deaths, and that full easing of restrictions in England on June 21 should be reconsidered.”

The India variant, known as B.1.617.2, is thought to be driving a rise in covid cases in parts of Britain and is believed to be both more transmissible than the variant first detected in Kent, which previously dominated, and somewhat more resistant to covid vaccines, particularly after just one dose.

Official figures for covid-19 cases in Croydon over the past 30 days show an upward trend from the end of April and early May

At present up to three-quarters of new covid cases in the UK are thought to be caused by the India variant. There have also been signs of a slight rise in hospitalisations.

Overall, in Croydon, the number of positive cases of covid-19 in the past seven days was up to 164 – 31 per cent more than in the previous seven-day period.


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