Covid: 'Unclear' how three variant cases in Wales caught virus

There is no clear evidence about how three people confirmed as having the South African coronavirus variant caught it, Wales' health minister said.

Vaughan Gething said the cases were found in Conwy, Anglesey and Neath Port Talbot.

The other 10 cases previously identified in Wales had been linked to travel from South Africa.

He said Public Health Wales was looking at whether there had been "wider community spread".

The handful of cases "at present" suggested there was not sustained community transmission, Mr Gething said.

Scientists are concerned that vaccines may not work so well against the variant.

Opposition parties urged Welsh ministers to conduct widescale testing in response to the variant.

The UK Government has been conducting "surge testing" in England where at least 105 cases of the variant have been found.

Meanwhile, the health minister said Wales had vaccinated more people as a percentage of the population than any other UK nation.

"But this isn't a race between countries of the UK," he said.

Mr Gething told a press conference that in three cases of the variant "there is currently no clear evidence of how they may have caught the virus".

The two cases in north Wales had the "same genetic sequence and they were tested on the same day in the same laboratory".

"Public Health Wales is carrying out a detailed and forensic investigation into each of these cases to discover when and how each person became infected with the South African variant strain and whether there is any evidence of wider community spread," the health minister said.

He said investigations would look at whether those who got the variant "came into contact with other people".

But he said ministers were not "going to look to an approach that has whole community testing across a whole local authority area".

"We're looking at targeted testing. That's why the backward contact tracing is really important to understand who those people may have been in contact with."

During the press conference Mr Gething said it was "too uncertain" to say that people would be able to enjoy a summer holiday abroad this year.

"I'm optimistic that people will be able to have a holiday break of some kind over the summer, I wouldn't want to forecast where that would be though," he said.

"We know many people are opting to stay within Wales or the UK but the challenge is that we know that from this summer, international travel to mainland Europe caused lots of mixing and a reintroduction of coronavirus into the UK.

"It helped to promote the growth of the virus through the autumn. So we're all still going to need to make responsible choices."

The case rate in Wales has fallen from about 700 per 100,00 people over seven days before Christmas to 125 - lower than England and Scotland.

But Mr Gething said Wales was unlikely to see a "radical and significant" easing of lockdown this month.

He said there would need to be "continued" reductions before the rules could be eased, and any available "headroom" would be used to help children go back to school.

A decision is expected on Friday about whether children aged seven and younger can return to primary school this month.

For the Welsh Conservatives, Janet Finch Saunders said the Welsh Government should consider "door-to-door testing" in the parts of Wales where the South African Covid variant had been identified.

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said there should be "whole-community testing" in the three areas.