There has been a sharp decline in the number of positive test results from amber and red list countries being sequenced for Covid variants, House of Commons library research commissioned by the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Coronavirus has revealed.
The data prompted warnings that the government is “opening the floodgates” to new variants, amid rising concerns about increasing cases of the Beta variant in countries such as Spain and France.
The figures suggest that just 13% of positive test results from red list countries were sequenced for new variants in the three weeks to 30th June, compared to 65% in March. It also finds that an estimated 3% of positive test results of arrivals from amber list countries were sequenced for Covid variants in the three weeks to the 30th June, compared to 61% in March.
The estimates are based on analysis of the latest NHS Test and Trace data, and show there were at least 1,388 positive tests of arrivals from amber list countries in the three-week period up to 30 June, up from 787 in the preceding three weeks.
It comes despite the government saying earlier this month that PCR tests for travellers arriving from red and amber list countries would continue and that “any positive results will be genomically sequenced to continue to manage the risk from importing variants.”
Layla Moran, Chair of the APPG on Coronavirus said:
“These figures are truly staggering and make a mockery of the UK government’s claim to be a global leader in genome sequencing.
The rise of the Beta variant in neighbouring countries should be setting alarm bells ringing in government. Yet instead ministers are dismantling our defences against the virus and opening the floodgates to new variants.
It seems that vital lessons have still not been learned from the failure to prevent the Delta variant taking root in the UK. The government must urgently fix this scandal and step up the sequencing of test results, before more dangerous Covid variants slip through the net.”
