was "looking carefully" at a circulating coronavirus variant first detected in India, as public health officials work to better characterize the strain.
A reporter questioned Johnson over the variant, given news Public Health England (PHE) Friday escalated the strain to a "variant of concern" following an uptick in cases and "evidence of community transmission.".
COLORADO IDENTIFIES INDIAN CORONAVIRUS VARIANT IN AT LEAST 5 RESIDENTS.
The health agency cited evidence suggesting the variant is "at least as transmissible" as the U.K.
The agency noted variant cases of the Indian variant subtype, VOC-21APR-02, have increased from 202 to 520 in the last week, with nearly half of cases tied to travel
Two other subtypes of variants first identified in India are not "variants of concern" but these strains, VUI-21APR-01 and VUI-21APR-03, are under review while researchers work to understand why the subtypes behave differently, the health agency said
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