The World Health Organisation is aware of a new variant of Covid-19 that has emerged in Britain, but there is no evidence the strain behaves differently to existing types of the virus, it said.

“We are aware of this genetic variant reported in 1,000 individuals in England,” the WHO's top emergencies expert Mike Ryan told a news briefing in Geneva, according to Reuters.

“Authorities are looking at its significance. We have seen many variants, this virus evolves and changes over time.”