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Up to 6 cases of Manaus coronavirus variant identified in U.K., health officials say

Click to play video: 'Coronavirus: First case of Brazil COVID-19 variant identified in Toronto'
Coronavirus: First case of Brazil COVID-19 variant identified in Toronto
WATCH: Coronavirus: First case of Brazil COVID-19 variant identified in Toronto – Feb 7, 2021

Up to six cases of the variant of coronavirus first identified in the Brazilian city of Manaus have been detected in Britain, English health officials said on Sunday.

Two of three cases found in England were from a household in the South Gloucestershire area which had a history of travel to Brazil and there was a third, currently unlinked case, Public Health England said.

“Although the risk to the wider community is considered low, as a precaution, PHE, working in collaboration with South Gloucestershire Council and NHS Test and Trace is taking swift and decisive action to deploy surge asymptomatic testing as well as increasing sequencing of positive samples from the area,” it said.

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