Which countries have the new variant of Covid-19?

The new variant of the COVID-19 virus was first detected in October from samples taken in Kent on 20 September and in London on the 21 September.

Scientists are not sure how the mutation came about but suspect it may have emerged in a patient with a weak immune system.

It is not believed to have been imported from abroad, although the original carrier has not been tracked down.

The new variant, which has an unusually high 23 mutations, spread rapidly through the south east. By November it accounted for 28 per cent of all cases in London and by December this has risen to 60 per cent.

It has been detected at lower, but fast rising, levels in all other parts of the UK..

It is believed to be up to 70 per cent more transmissible than the original version of the virus.

In a Downing Street briefing on 14 December chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance said the variant, known officially as B.1.1.7 was faster spreading and was quickly becoming dominant.

Despite the international travel bans imposed on Britain, the variant has already been identified in Denmark, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands and Iceland.

However, it is believed to be far more widely spread than that – but without yet being detected in many countries.

Government adviser, Imperial College’s Professor Neil Ferguson said today that he thinks “it has now been introduced to most, if not all European countries.”

A similar strain of the virus found in South Africa, is believed to have developed independently.