UK government expressed concern over the speed of Indian variant's spread – BBC

“Local and regional restrictions to tackle the Indian Covid variant cannot be ruled out,” said the UK government, per BBC during its late Thursday news.

The piece cites doubling of the Indian variant of covid in a week with Thursday’s 1,313 cases, versus 520 up to the previous Wednesday.

“Surge testing is already taking place in 15 areas across England. This is when increased testing and enhanced contact tracing is carried out in very specific locations to prevent the spread of outbreaks,” said the BBC.

The news also quotes UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock as saying, “We are monitoring the situation very carefully and will not hesitate to take further action if necessary.”

In a separate report, the UK Telegraph mentioned Britain scaling back the covid passport plans amid ministers’ questions on the health benefits it will offer.

Market reaction

Following the downbeat news, GBP/USD fades recovery moves around mid-1.4000s while searching for fresh clues amid a light calendar and thin feeds in Friday’s early Asian session.