British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended the speed of border quarantine measures as authorities continue to hunt for a traveller missing in England who has the worrying Brazilian variant of the coronavirus.
“We’ve got one of the toughest border regimes anywhere in the world for stopping people coming into this country who may have variants of concern,” he said.
Johnson played down fears that the discovery of the variant could delay his lockdown roadmap.
“We have no reason not to think that our vaccines are effective against these variants of concern at the present time,” Johnson said.
There have been six cases detected across England and Scotland.
“People should take that as some, you know, as some evidence of confidence.”
His comments come as British authorities continue their hunt for a missing traveller in England who tested positive for the variant first detected in the Brazilian city of Manaus.
Six cases were found in England and Scotland, renewing criticism the Government was too slow to impose restrictions on international arrivals and the country needed tighter controls.
Last month, in an aim to stop the spread of new virus variants, the government introduced a mandatory 11-day quarantine for travellers returning from 33 high-risk countries, including Brazil.
As it stands, UK nationals or residents are allowed to return from Brazil using indirect flights.
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