Britain will work with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to develop a “pandemic radar” system to identify new coronavirus variants quickly and track emerging diseases globally to ensure the world is never “caught unawares again”.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the plan for a new “Global Pandemic Radar” ahead of a G20 Global Health summit in Rome, where he will speak, according to Reuters.

Johnson's office said it would involve a network of surveillance hubs that could watch out for outbreaks and share data on variants and vaccine resistance.

He is using Britain's presidency of the G7 to highlight the need to be prepared for future pandemics, launching an expert group to examine how the development of vaccines against future diseases can be expedited.