A "mutation of concern" has been detected in the variant of coronavirus first identified in the UK, which scientists have described as "a worrying development".
Britain has detected 43 cases of the coronavirus featuring these mutations in Bristol and Liverpool, British health minister Matt Hancock said today, adding that new variants meant the government had to act with caution.
"We've also seen 11 cases of mutations of concern in Bristol, and 32 in Liverpool," Mr Hancock told MPs, saying they were additional to the 11 cases of the South African variant that were not linked to international travel.
"We must continue to act with caution, not least because of the renewed challenges posed by new variants of the coronavirus," he said.
The mutation linked to the UK variant, known as E484K, is already present in both South African and Brazilian coronavirus variants and experts believe it could have an impact on the effectiveness of some Covid-19 vaccines.
Laboratory studies have shown that antibodies are less able to bind to a part of the virus known as the spike protein, in order to stop it from unlocking human cells to gain entry.
It was previously thought this mutation was not present in the UK variant.
But a recent report published by Public Health England said gene sequencing has shown that the E484K mutation has occurred spontaneously in only a handful of cases of the UK variant.
Dr Jonathan Stoye, group leader, Retrovirus-Host Interactions Laboratory at The Francis Crick Institute, said: "This suggests that the UK variant is now independently acquiring the E484K change.
"From a virological standpoint, appearance of new variants by mutation during replication cannot be considered surprising.
"Whether this change will provide significant growth advantages for the novel virus causing it to predominate remains to be seen."
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UK Health Minister Matt Hancock said on Tuesday that new cases of the novel coronavirus with "mutations of concern" have been detected in Bristol and Liverpool, with the two cities joining other areas in England where a mass COVID-19 testing program is being implemented to find the South African virus strain.
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The door-to-door testing began on Tuesday in eight areas of north London and southeast England where 105 cases of the variant first identified in South Africa including 11 cases which don't appear to have any links to international travel have been recently detected.
"In those areas where this variant has been found we're putting in extra testing and sequencing every positive test," the minister said, urging people in the infected areas to get tested as soon as possible even without symptoms.