New Covid Variant In UK "Not Out Of Control": WHO

Geneva, Switzerland: The new coronavirus variant discovered in Britain with a higher transmission rate is not yet out of control and can be contained using existing measures, the World Health Organization said on Monday.

“We have had a much higher (contamination rate) at different points in this pandemic and we’ve got it under control,” WHO’s emergencies chief Michael Ryan told a press conference.

“So this situation is not in that sense out of control. But it cannot be left to its own devices.”

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock had earlier claimed the new variant was “out of control”, with British officials saying it was 70 per cent more transmissible than the main strain.

“The measures we currently have in place are the correct measures,” Ryan said.