Covid: What is the Brazil variant and why is the government so concerned?
The emergence of the Brazil variant in the UK has led to a flurry of activity as the government tries to track down the people who have been infected.
Not much is known about the variant but it is believed to be more transmissible than the original strain and there are fears the vaccines could be less effective against it.
Six people have tested positive for the virus in the UK, but only five have been traced with the remaining one having the potential to be anywhere in the country.
What is the Brazil variant?
The UK has labelled the Brazil variant a "variant of concern" and has banned all flights from the country.
It is believed to have originated in the Brazillian city of Manaus at the end of last year.
It was first identified in four travellers who had been in Brazil and were tested at an airport outside Tokyo, Japan.
Dr Susan Hopkins, strategic response director at Public Health England (PHE) said the Brazil Manaus variant is similar to the variant from South Africa, with mutations that are thought to increase transmissibility.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said it contains a set of mutations that may affect its ability to be recognised by antibodies developed from a vaccine or previous infection.Dr Hopkins said: “Manaus in particular reported that a number of individuals were re-infected with this variant, and therefore that suggests that having had prior immunity from primary infection wasn’t enough to reduce infection and transmission. And that may also impact on the vaccine.”
Danny Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College, told Time Radio it looks likely the variant is "breaking through" antibodies built up by previous infection.
He said it was expected that the Manaus population "had one of the highest levels of immunity in the world" due to high infection levels earlier in the pandemic, "and yet they're seeing this enormous wave of reinfections".
"So, if you put two and two together their assumption is that's because the new variant is breaking through those antibodies. But if that hadn't really been proven yet, it looks likely."
Do the vaccines work against the Brazil variant?
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said there is no evidence to suggest it is resistant to vaccines.
"We don't have any reason at the present time to think that our vaccines are ineffective against these new variants of all types," he said.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain last week England’s deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said there is no data about if the vaccine works against the Brazil variant.
He added: "We have some evidence from the clinical trials for some of the vaccines, but until really these vaccines come up against those new variants in large scale, we’ll have to wait for those answers.
“But I still think they’re going to reduce the likelihood of having severe disease.”
Professor Sarah Gilbert, of the University of Oxford, told the Science and Technology Committee last week is the research so far shows the vaccines reduce efficacy rather than become entirely redundant when coming up against a new variant.
How did the variant get to the UK?
Public Health England (PHE) said on Sunday that six cases of the variant first detected in Brazil have been confirmed in Britain, three in England and three in Scotland.
Two were confirmed in South Gloucestershire but the third English case has not been located and could be anywhere in the nation.
PHE said the person did not complete their test registration card so their contact details are absent.
All recently arrived in the UK from abroad, with all other people who were on the same flights now being traced.
A member of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said the variant could force the UK to "go backwards" in terms of relaxing restrictions.
How has it impacted Brazil?
Brazil has suffered from the second-highest number of deaths from Covid-19 in the world, with only the USA having more.
It recently passed 250,000 deaths, with cases still high and hospital beds filling up.
Last Thursday was Brazil’s deadliest day since the beginning of the pandemic, with 1,541 deaths confirmed from the virus.
Part of the reason Brazil has struggled so much with the virus is because the government has been split over how to handle it.
President Jair Bolsonaro has criticised lockdowns claiming they cost people their jobs and Covid is just like the flu.
Whereas the leaders of individuals states have adopted lockdowns in order to bring down hospital admissions with the countries health service under intense strain.
Because of the lack of direction from the central government, Brazil's response has been uncoordinated.
The issue has been made worse by the variant with Manaus suffering heavily from the new spike in infections.
Overrun hospitals in the city ran out of oxygen at the end of January, causing dozens of patients to die of asphyxiation.