By Rhea Dehaney, Civic Reporter
Those people living in the London boroughs of Ealing and Redbridge are being “strongly encouraged” to take a coronavirus test when offered one after the South African variant of Covid-19 was detected in the areas.
The Department for Health stated a “small number” of cases has been found so far, reporting that the efforts will allow health authorities to sequence any positive cases for genomic data to aid in their understanding of virus variants and their spread. Surge testing in response to a case in the postcode of W7 in Ealing has now been completed. Further testing is now being rolled out across the borough after a small number of confirmed cases of the South African strain were detected in Acton, Greenford, Southall and West Ealing. The cases are not believed to be linked to international travel.