England Confirms Coronavirus Variant Has Increased Transmissibility

Public Health England confirmed late on December 21, 2020, a novel variant has been identified which has spread rapidly within the UK. We have assessed this variant as having substantially increased transmissibility with high confidence.

The Kent cluster, when examined in the national phylogeny, is part of a larger cluster, which is phylogenetically very distinct from the rest of the UK dataset. These cases were concentrated in Kent and NE London, with limited spread into the rest of London, Anglia, and Essex.

Much less is known about the other spike variants present in this cluster, with the exception of D614G which is well characterized and already highly prevalent in the UK. Their significance cannot be judged at present, stated PHE.