Extra help for north-west England to curb Delta variant rise

London: The UK government on Tuesday introduced a strengthened support package of extra testing and vaccination measures in the north-west England regions of Greater Manchester and Lancashire to tackle the rise in cases of the Delta variant of

COVID-19.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the House of Commons that the measures are based on those already deployed in other hotspots of the highly transmissible B1.617.2 variant of concern (VOC), which was first detected in India.

It will include rapid response teams, extra free tests being made available, military support and supervised in-school testing.

"I can tell the House that today, working with local authorities, we are providing a strengthened package of support based on what is working in Bolton to help Greater Manchester and Lancashire tackle the rise in the Delta variant that we are seeing there," Hancock said in Parliament.

I want to encourage everyone in Manchester and Lancashire to get the tests on offer. We know that this approach can work. We've seen it work in south London and in Bolton in stopping a rise in the number of cases and this is the next stage of tackling the pandemic in Manchester and in Lancashire, he said.