Indian variant 'primarily' in south Wales cities, says Mark Drakeford

A variant of coronavirus first identified in India could be 50% more transmissible than the type dominant in the UK, First Minister Mark Drakeford has said.

Wales has so far reported 25 cases of a variant that has sparked concern in England.

Mr Drakeford said these were "primarily" in urban centres like Newport, Cardiff and Swansea.

He added there had not been "genuine community spread" of it in Wales.

But he told the BBC's Wales Live he was "right to be concerned" about the variant given the speed it was doubling in England.

He promised "targeted" additional vaccines in areas affected.

The UK government has rolled out surge testing and vaccinations after cases of the Indian variant spiked across the border.

So far the case rate has remained low in Wales.

However, last week Mr Drakeford said he had held off some elements of easing of restrictions while he sought advice on the variant.

He told the Senedd he had been advised that it was likely "that the India variant is 50% more transmissible than the Kent variant and therefore is likely to supplant it if it moves into genuine community spread".

"Now we're not in that position here in Wales," he said.

The Kent variant is the form of the virus discovered in the UK late last year and has become the more dominant form of the virus.

Mr Drakeford said all the cases known in Wales had been identified by local public health teams and all had been contacted.

Even with 80% of the population given a first dose "that still means 20%" have not, he said.

"And that still is a significant vulnerability, although every week that goes by thousands more people are vaccinated."

Mr Drakeford said they would focus on accelerating vaccination "lower down the age ranges because there is also some evidence that Indian variant has been more found in younger population".

He added that his government is going to have "targeted measures in relation to vaccination".

"Because we have such low numbers in Wales, we are able to focus additional vaccines in that way, and the discussions with the health boards are already happening so that they can use greater discretion to make sure that they bring forward for vaccination people in the areas most affected".

He made the comments after Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price raised fears that if the Indian variant is 50% more transmissible "that further easing of restrictions... could actually lead to higher hospitalizations and even higher deaths".

He asked if the Welsh government was confident that the health service had the capacity to cope with the scenario.

On Wednesday the UK government announced that surge testing and labs would be expanded to six new areas of concern in England.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson also said there was increasing confidence that vaccines were effective against all variants.

Meanwhile Mr Drakeford said additional doses had been secured for a potential booster programme "in the autumn".

"Those booster vaccines will have been calibrated to take account of the emerging variants," he added.

The first minister also said, when responding to a question from Welsh Tory Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies, that officials were "watching carefully the Brazilian variant with a particular eye on Portugal and travel in and out of that country".

Travel to Portugal was permitted earlier this week as part of the green list of countries.