UK Upgrades Indian COVID-19 Strain to ‘Variant of Concern’

A patient breathes with the help of oxygen provided by a gurdwara, a place of worship for Sikhs, under a tent installed along the roadside amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghaziabad, India, on April 26, 2021. Sajjad Hussain/Getty Images

The UK health authorities have designated a CCP virus variant first detected in India as a “variant of concern,” Public Health England (PHE) confirmed on Friday.

PHE said it reclassified the variant from a “variant under investigation” to a “variant of concern” following “a rise in cases in the UK and evidence of community transmission.”