As at 10 March, VOC 202012/01 (first identified in Kent) continues to be the
dominant Covid-19 variant in Wales and the UK. There have been no further cases of
VOC 202012/02 (the variant linked to South Africa) since the last report (17/03/2021) with 25
cases in Wales detected to date. 1 case of the variant VUI-202101/01 linked to
Brazil has now been identified in Wales as of this week and there have been 3 cases
of the variant VUI 202102/03 linked to Nigeria identified in Wales.
The South African variant remains the most concerning, due to ongoing evidence
of weaker antibody neutralisation. The South African variant is currently accounting
for an increasing proportion of cases in Eastern France.
The P1 variant, first detected in travellers to Japan from Brazil, shares some
mutations with the South African variant which appear to reduce vaccine
effectiveness. Although not yet seen in Wales, several cases have been identified
elsewhere in the UK.
At the midpoint of the most recent week (7 to 13 March 2021) the highest estimated
percentages of the community population with COVID-19 among the nations of the UK
was in Scotland (0.37%) whilst Wales appeared to have the lowest.
In the most recent week, rates have decreased In England and Wales, remained level in
Northern Ireland and have increased in Scotland.
https://gov.wales/technical-advisory...-19-march-2021