THE mutant strain of coronavirus blamed for a surge in cases across south east England has been identified near Braintree, scientists say.

Experts say the strain - known as VUI-202012/01 - is 70 per cent more transmissible and fear it is now present in most parts of the UK.

But Braintree is one of 57 areas in the UK which has had confirmed cases with the new strain, the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK) monitoring group have said.

It is the only place in Essex where the strain has been confirmed.

Braintree has seen a huge rise in cases since the start of December and is now close to recording 1,000 Covid-19 cases a week.

The infection rate in the district is currently 633.0 cases per 100,000 people, with 966 positive tests carried out in the last seven days.

That compares to 544 cases the week before.

Experts are studying 3,000 coronavirus samples to evaluate the spread of the mutated virus amid fears it has extended out of Tier 4 areas.

Speaking during an evidence session of the Commons Science and Technology Committee this morning (Wednesday, December 23), Professor Peter Horby, chairman of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said scientists were still exploring whether the new mutant coronavirus strain could sidestep immunity caused by vaccine or prior infection.

He said: “What we don’t know yet is if there’s any difference in the severity of disease, the age distribution of cases, or most importantly whether there is any immune escape.”

Prof Horby also said the strain likely started from one person in Kent, and could have been caused by “random errors” when the virus copies.