UK Extends Surge Testing as South African COVID-19 Variant Spreads in London

A worker dressed in PPE talks with members of the public arriving to take COVID-19 tests at a mobile surge testing centre in Brockwell Park in south London on Apr. 13, 2021. Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images

UK health authorities have extended the ongoing COVID-19 surge testing operation to two more London boroughs in an attempt to curb the spread of a variant of the CCP virus first identified in South Africa.

The local council of Barnet said on April 14 that the South African variant had been found in the north London borough.