the second piece of news i want to tell
you about
is some developments about another new
strain of this virus
of course the fight against the virus is
a global effort
and we're constantly vigilant and
looking around the world and as part of
our surveillance
and thanks to the impressive genomic
capability
of the south africans we've detected two
cases of another
new variant of coronavirus here in the
uk
both are cases both are contacts of
cases who have traveled from south
africa over the past few weeks
the chief scientific advisor and the
chief medical officer and others met
their south african counterparts
over the last day and we are incredibly
grateful to the south african government
for the rigor of their science
and the openness and the transparency
with which they have rightly acted
as we did when we discovered a new
variant here
this new variant is highly concerning
because it is yet more transmissible
and it appears to have mutated further
than the new variant that's been
discovered in the uk
we've taken the following action first
we are
quarantining cases and close contacts of
cases
found here in the uk second
we're placing immediate restrictions on
travel from south africa
and finally and most importantly anyone
in the uk
who has been in south africa in the past
fortnight
and anyone who is a close contact of
someone who's been in south africa
in the last fortnight must
quarantine immediately
by quarantine i mean they must restrict
all contact with any other person
whatsoever
we'll be changing the law to give this
legal effect imminently
now these measures are temporary while
we investigate
further this new strain which is uh
shortly to be analyzed at porton down
and i want to thank everyone involved
for the seriousness with which i know
that they will take these new
instructions