INVESTIGATIONS are ongoing into whether there is a wider community transmission of the South African Variant of Covid.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething addressed the nation on Wednesday afternoon to give an update on the latest coronavirus situation in Wales.

He said that there are currently three new strains of the virus that are a cause for concern, one being the South African strain and two from Brazil.

He added these mutations are ‘more contagious’ than the original scheme which led to a variety of measures being put in place, such as the suspension of the travel corridor scheme.

Mr Gething said enhanced quarantine and testing arrangements have also been introduced for people returning to the UK and households must quarantine as an additional precaution.

All travellers have been offered a test to test for the new strain and all household contacts were then contacted if positive.

Additionally, a surveillance system is also in place.

Gene sequencing has so far uncovered 13 cases of the South African variant in Wales, an increase of three from last week, which - like the variant previously discovered in Kent - is thought to be more contagious although not more deadly.

Three of the cases of the South African variant had no link to foreign travel, prompting concerns it is spreading in the community.

Mr Gething said two of these three cases are in North Wales, Anglesey and Cowny, and Public Health Wales is carrying our a ‘detailed and forensic investigation’.

The third case is in Neath Port Talbot.

The investigation aims to find out when and how each person became infected and whether there is any evidence of wider community transmission.

He added they are ‘working around the clock’ and will ‘do everything we can’ to keep people safe.

The Health Minister went on to say that the emergence of the new strains means it is ‘more important than ever’ to follow the rules, as the Kent variant quickly became the most dominant across Wales.

Over in England, surge testing has been introduced in some areas where the new strain has been identified.

When asked whether Wales will be adopting a similar approach, Mr Gething said not at this moment but there will be discussions over targeted testing and what this will look like.

Concerns were raised over the new strain being found in areas close to Wales such as Liverpool or Bristol, by the Health Minister said if people do have to travel for essential purposes, they will be returning back to their households so the community transmission ‘should therefore be limited’.

Mr Gething was asked about the cases not linked to international travel, he said they are doing backwards contact tracing to answer these questions.

He went on the say that there are only a handful of cases at presents which suggests no wider community transmission, but an investigation is taking place.

He added there is no evidence that it causes more harm, but there was concern over whether the vaccine would work.

However he confirmed there was no evidence the vaccine would not offer any protection against the new strain.