* Authorities concerned with the spread of the S. African variant
* Emergence of tests launched in eight areas of England
* Volunteers knock on doors, distribute self-test kits (reformulations with colors, details, background)
By Hannah McKay and Ben Makori
WOKING, England, February 2 (Reuters) – Volunteers and police in various parts of England started knocking on people’s doors to distribute COVID-19 test kits on Tuesday to try to stop the spread of a highly infectious variant originating in South Africa .
The increase in tests was announced by the government on Monday after 11 people in different regions tested positive for the variant without having any connection with people who traveled to South Africa.
In total, Britain found 105 cases of the variant, of which all but 11 were people who had already been in South Africa or had been in contact with someone who did.
The campaign will involve testing 80,000 people in eight different areas – those where the 11 related cases were found – regardless of whether they have any symptoms.
The goal is to try to break the transmission chains in the community, identifying people with the variant and demanding that they isolate themselves.
The eight areas in question are three parts of London, two in south-east England, one in central England, one in the east and one in the northwest.
In the city of Woking, south-west London, volunteers or police knocked on all doors in the designated area to distribute self-test kits ready to be collected at the end of the day.
“I think we are all very concerned,” said resident Gwen Cox, 77, as she took out her kit. “You just have to be very careful.”
England is currently in strict national confinement, with people under orders to stay home, unless they need to leave because of a list of reasons approved by the government.
QUARENTINE EXPECTED HOTELS
Britain has the worst number of deaths in Europe due to COVID-19, with more than 106,000 people dying from the disease in 28 days after a positive test. More than 3.8 million people have confirmed positive tests since the pandemic began.
The number of new cases is stabilizing or decreasing, depending on the region, after a dramatic increase in infections at the end of last year, fueled by another, more communicable variant first identified in southeastern England.
The health service is implementing a mass vaccination program, with almost 9.3 million people receiving the first injection, but the government and health officials are concerned that new variants against which the vaccines could work less can hinder that effort.
“It is still a very dangerous stage of the virus and we have these new variants spreading,” Education Minister Michelle Donelan told Sky on Tuesday.
Scientists said the South African variant appears to be more transmissible, but there is no evidence that it causes a more serious illness. However, several laboratory studies have found that it reduces the effectiveness of vaccine and antibody therapy.
Ministers have faced criticism for being too slow to implement measures to quarantine travelers arriving from abroad who could bring mutations of the virus with them.
A plan to quarantine new arrivals from high-risk countries in hotels has been announced, but has not yet been implemented.
“I know that the government is working to achieve this policy and implement it as soon as possible,” Donelan told Times Radio. (Additional reporting by Kate Holton, Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden; Written by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Alison Williams)
Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.