The UK is anxious about the spread of the novel coronavirus variant first detected in India and rules nothing out, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday.

“We are anxious about it – it has been spreading,” Johnson said, adding that there would be meetings later on Thursday to discuss what to do.

“We’re ruling nothing out,” Johnson said.

“At the moment I can see nothing that dissuades me from thinking we’ll be able to go ahead on Monday and June 21 everywhere,” he added, referring to further steps to ease lockdown.

Bolton has been identified as one of the Indian variant hotspots with Rumworth, Deane and Great Lever residents urged to attend a Mobile Testing Unit while asked if the government was considering surge vaccinations to accompany surge testing in areas with spikes of new variants, The Prime Minister’s spokesman said officials would not “rule anything out”.

However Downing Street said there are “no plans” to reintroduce the tier system in England amid concerns local restrictions could be needed in areas where variants are identified.

The latest NHS figures for Bolton show 162 cases per 100,000 people in the latest week of information available May 2 to 8 May. The average area in England had 16.

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