The World Health Organisation (WHO) in Europe said it would convene its members to discuss how to handle the outbreak of a new variant of the novel coronavirus discovered in the UK.

Hans Kluge, WHO's regional director for Europe, said that the organisation was closely monitoring the spread of the new variant and would in response “convene member states to discuss strategies for testing, reducing transmission & communicating risks”.

Kluge added that “limiting travel to contain spread is prudent until we have better info".