LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - British Health Secretary Matt
Hancock said on Sunday that 77 cases of the South African
variant of COVID-19 had been found in the United Kingdom, all of
them connected to travel from South Africa and under close
observation.
Hancock also said there was a very low number of cases of
the Brazilian variant, 9 at the latest count, and those were
also being closely monitored.
"There are 77 known cases of the South African variant here
in the UK," Hancock said on BBC television.
"They are under very close observation, and we have enhanced
contact tracing to do everything we possibly can to stop them
from spreading," he said, adding that all the known cases were
people who had travelled from South Africa or had contact with
someone else who had done so.
(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Edmund Blair)