April 9, 2021 10.57 am This story is over 35 months old

COVID mutations of concern detected in Lincolnshire, but they’ve been contained

No hospitalisations and deaths from care home outbreak
| Photo: Stuart Wilde for CoLC

COVID-19 mutations of concern have been detected by health officials in Lincolnshire, but they said they’ve been contained, and there is “no longer transmission, no issues.”

The Brazil and South Africa variants have worried scientists because they are thought to be much more contagious than the original strain, and can therefore spread faster in the population, and potentially be vaccine-resistant.

Health bosses have also said there have been no hospitalisations or deaths from a care home coronavirus outbreak in West Lindsey at the end of March.

Professor Derek Ward, director for public health at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “There have been a couple of cases where we’ve been notified of people who’ve travelled back from, for example, Brazil or South Africa, who have tested positive, but they’ve all been followed up by the national team and there’s been no longer transmission, no issues.”

“I expect we’ll continue to see one or two of those cases because they’re all tested on return […] But, no outbreaks, no issues, nothing.”

On care home outbreaks, Professor Ward said immunity is not perfect from COVID vaccinations but symptoms are reduced.

“The disease has been either asymptomatic and we picked it up through normal testing or very low level symptoms, and those people who did catch COVID who had a dose of the vaccine, three or more weeks before, had a very mild disease.

“As far as I’m aware, we’ve not had any hospitalisations from people in those situations. So if we don’t have any hospitalisations, it’s fairly safe to say that we wouldn’t have had any deaths, but of course that may change at any given point.”

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