British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said his government is worried about the transmission of an Indian Covid variant as scientific advisers met to discuss its spread.

“It is a variant of concern, we are anxious about it,” Johnson said, as new official figures from Public Health England were expected to show a rise in cases of the strain, according to an AFP report.

“We want to make sure we take all the prudential, cautious steps now that we could take,” he told reporters, adding the government was “ruling nothing out”.