Mystery individual infected with Manaus strain is found

"The best evidence is that this person stayed at home and there is no evidence of onward transmission but as a precaution we are putting more testing in in Croydon where they live to minimise the possibility of spread".

Experts suspect that this variant, which is now under investigation, originated in the United Kingdom and has the E484K mutation present in new strains that have appeared in South Africa and Brazil.

The new findings mean scientists are now monitoring four VUIs and four "variants of concern" (VOC) in the UK.

All 16 individuals, who have tested positive for variant, have been asked to isolate with their contacts traced.

The B.1.525 variant was first detected in Nigeria and Britain last December, according to the statement.

Speaking in the Lords, he said the country "must be on the balls of its feet" to be ready for such "unhelpful news".

Meanwhile, broadcaster and leading fertility expert Lord Winston warned the risk of a risky new variant against which there was no defence was "eventually likely to be inevitable".

US forces: Rockets hit airbase in Iraq housing US troops
At least 10 rockets have targeted a military base in western Anbar province that hosts Iraqi and US-led coalition troops. The Pentagon had said the strike was a "proportionate military response" taken after consulting coalition partners.

Additional testing is now being made available for targeted areas of England to suppress the spread of VOCs.

In England, two of the cases are from the same household in South Gloucestershire who tested positive after someone returned from Brazil on 10 February.

Meanwhile, authorities continue to track down a person in England who has been reported as the first infected by the Brazilian variant.

A medical worker receives a vaccine for the coronavirus disease at a vaccination centre in Serdang, Malaysia, on Thursday.

The UK on Thursday along with four other nations unveiled a consortium to give fast-track approval to vaccines created to protect people against emerging coronavirus variants.

He said coronavirus cases, hospital admissions and deaths are all continuing to fall.