British Health Secretary Matt Hancock says 77 cases of the South African variant of Covid-19 have been found in the United Kingdom, all of them connected to travel from South Africa and under close observation.

Hancock also said there was a very low number of cases of the Brazilian variant, nine at the latest count, and those were also being closely monitored.

“They are under very close observation, and we have enhanced contact tracing to do everything we possibly can to stop them from spreading,” he said, adding that all the known cases were people who had travelled from South Africa or had contact with someone else who had done so.

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