James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent, BBC News
New variant ‘almost certainly’ in majority of Europe
The new variant of coronavirus is almost certainly in the majority of European countries already, according to Prof Neil Ferguson, from Imperial College London.
He was giving evidence to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee alongside other experts from the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, which advises government.
The variant has already been detected in other countries such as Denmark, but is likely to have spread much wider.
Prof Ferguson said: “I’m almost certain in my view, that this virus has been introduced into the great majority if not all European countries at this time.”
The UK has sequenced 45% of all the genetic codes of coronavirus in the world and it is still not certain whether it originated in the south east of England or was just first detected there.
This has raised concerns the UK is being punished for discovering the variant.
At the same hearing, Prof Peter Horby, from the University of Oxford, said: "I think it’s fair to say countries that have more extensive and rigorous science and are more transparent do expose themselves to important information being made available to others.”