Matt Hancock: Indian Covid variant more transmissible, evidence suggests

The number of confirmed UK cases of the Covid variant first detected in India has almost doubled since last week, health secretary Matt Hancock has said. Speaking on the day indoor hospitality and other venues were allowed to reopen, Hancock told MPs that 2,323 cases of the B.1.617.2 variant had been confirmed, up from 1,313 on Thursday, with 483 of those in the outbreaks in Bolton and Blackburn