Boris Johnson is being asked to act after an Indian COVID variant with possible worrying mutations was found in the UK.
There are fears that the variant, which contains two mutations, could evade the current vaccines, as well as the immunity acquired by previous infection.
Scientists have said that the appearance of the “double mutant” strain is a “disaster” and that the prime minister is “crazy” because he was considering a trade trip to India later this month.
Experts have questioned why India has not yet been added to the red list of countries, given concerns over tensions.
Public Health England reported that 73 cases of the B.1.617 variant had been confirmed in England, as well as four cases in Scotland.
Samples of the variant were first found in England in February, according to the Guardian.
The cases found in England are reportedly spread across different parts of the country and many are related to international travel.
Officials referred to the tribe as a “variant under investigation” rather than the more serious “variant of concern”, such as the Manaus (Brazil) or South African variants.
Dr Anthony Costello, a member of the Independent Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies, said: ‘This is a disaster. There are more than 50 flights from India daily. Seventy-seven cases of a very nasty Indian variant affecting younger people who are already here?
“Stress tests without insulation support. Contacts are not tested. It’s a total shard. We learned nothing after a year.”
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Professor Christina Pagel, professor of operational research at University College London, has previously characterized the prime minister’s planned trade trip to India as crazy.
But she said although it has already been detected, it does not make ‘good’.
She told The Independent: ‘The problem with this variant is that it not only has mutations that can elude antibodies, but that they can also elude T cells.
“And as we open up more and more, importing a species becomes much more dangerous because it can spread much faster before you notice it.”
Downing Street confirmed today that the Prime Minister’s journey will continue.
A spokesman for no. 10 said: “As you would expect, safety is obviously important and it is a priority for us during this trip. Therefore, we will make sure that all elements of the visit are COVID-safe.”
Deepti Gurdasani, senior lecturer in epidemiology at Queen Mary University of London, urged the government to take action and tweeted: ‘We do not just see the increases in the so-called South African variant, despite efforts to limit it, we also seem to have imported the double mutant from India – with * 77 * cases identified so far.
“When was it identified? And why is the government not acting?”
The B.1.617 variant was first identified in India and has since been found elsewhere.
Experts are concerned about the variant, as it contains two mutations that make it possible to evade the body’s immune responses. It is also thought that it can infect the body more easily.
Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said the variant contained two “escape mutations” – E484Q and L452R – that “cause people to worry”.
He added: ‘The application of what we use from other human coronaviruses may basically indicate that it will be even less controlled by vaccine. But we do not know for sure at the moment. ”
The news that the strain has already been found in the UK comes as India has reported a daily record increase of 217,353 COVID-19 infections in just 24 hours, with experts linking the sharp increase in cases to the mutant strain.
Worrying stories have emerged about unrelated patients having to be forced to share beds and bodies outside wards at one of the largest COVID facilities in India as the country struggles to cope with the increase in cases.
India recorded nearly 14.3 million COVID cases – the second in the US to report more than 31 million.
The prime minister has already reduced his planned visit to Delhi, but is still planning for the end of April, and Downing Street maintains that all elements of the trip will be ‘COVID safe’.
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