⚠️“dramatic rise in UK cases of a variant first discovered in India could undermine roadmap for reopening”, scientists caution. One of 3 key 🇮🇳variants, #B161712, now surged to 6% of all variants in UK, WHO & England both upgraded to “variant of concern”.🧵theguardian.com/world/2021/may… 
2) Prof @chrischirp, of University College London and member of @IndependentSage experts, speaking in a personal capacity said rise in B.1.617.2 cases was concerning enough to delay the next stage of the roadmap scheduled for Monday, when a range of restrictions are to be lifted.
3) “the second most common variant in the UK. Wellcome Sanger Institute’s Covid-19 genomic surveillance data – **which excludes recent travellers and surge testing specimens** – suggests about 6.1% of Covid genomes in England sequenced in the 4 weeks to 24 April are B.1.617.2.
4) While the Kent variant is decreasing or stabilising, B.1.617.2 is flourishing. In some parts of the country, such as Bolton and Blackburn the variant accounts for over 50% of cases.
5) Pagel pointed out that, while B.1.617.2 numbers are not currently that big, they are doubling every week – and this is all within the space of three weeks.
6) “We’ve done this so many times – waited until things got really bad before we realised we should have acted several weeks ago,” she said. “So why don’t we actually act several weeks ago – which is now!” @chrischirp says.
7) “On Thursday, leaked Public Health England documents seen by the Guardian showed that 48 clusters of B.1.617.2 had been identified, including those linked to secondary schools, care homes and religious gatherings.” theguardian.com/world/2021/may…
8) there are now new analysis that show #B16172 is 2x faster transmission than even the faster #B117! And it will likely take over as the dominant strain in the UK in coming month or two.
https://twitter.com/twenseleers/status/1392151790284644354?s=21
9) And again, these @sangerinstitute genomic data excludes travel import cases and excludes aggressive surge testing cases!
10) some say 6% still low (some say it’s over 11% now, and over 50% in some cities in UK), but don’t forget the power of exponential growth. It start slow but can soon compound.
https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1377828060007952389
11) #B1617 family of lineages are now surging worldwide. And it’s clearly outpacing other variants. Ht @trvrb
12) Don’t dare say Indian #B16172 variant isn’t alarming. Keep in mind the UK is also heavily vaccinated too.
https://twitter.com/chrischirp/status/1390745905654075399
13 really bad trajectory of #B16172 India 🇮🇳 variant in England 🏴
https://twitter.com/chrischirp/status/1390745901128368132
14) Even wealthy Singapore also being hit by #B1617 variant.
https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1392366780828553221
15) Scotland is heavily vaccinated… yet…
We need over 90% vaccinated I think given how contagious #B1617 is.
We need over 90% vaccinated I think given how contagious #B1617 is.
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1392587068455456771
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