London: The UK government has launched plans for a new “Global Pandemic Radar” to identify emerging Covid-19 variants and track new diseases around the world.
The World Health Organization (WHO) will lead an implementation group, supported by the Wellcome Trust, to launch this new international partnership to identify, track and share data on new the variants and monitor vaccine resistance in populations, according to a statement issued by the government on Friday.
The “Global Pandemic Radar” is expected to be fully up and running with a network of surveillance hubs before the end of 2021, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.
“We need to build a system of disease surveillance fit for the 21st century, with real-time data sharing and rapid genomic sequencing and response,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in the statement.
“A ‘Global Pandemic Radar’ will ensure that we are vigilant to new variants and emerging pathogens, and can rapidly develop the vaccines and treatments needed to stop them in their tracks,” he added.
Almost 3,000 cases of the coronavirus variant first detected in India have been reported in Britain, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Thursday.
According to Hancock, surge testing and vaccinations will be deployed in the affected areas including Bedford, Burnley, Hounslow, Kirklees, Leicester and North Tyneside.
The Scottish government is also taking similar steps in Glasgow and Moray, he added.
The spread of the Indian variant has raised concerns that England’s final step of the roadmap out of Covid-19 restrictions scheduled for June 21 might be delayed.
Prime Minister Johnson told lawmakers earlier this week that there is “increasing confidence” that the current vaccines will be effective against all variants of the virus, including the Indian strain.
The UK has so far reported 4,473,772 Covid-19 cases and 127,972 deaths.
