The number of confirmed UK cases of the Covid variant first detected in India has almost doubled in four days, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, as experts warned it could become the dominant type of the virus imminently. Speaking on the day indoor hospitality and other venues were allowed to reopen, Hancock told MPs that 2,323 cases of the variant known as B.1.617.2 had been confirmed, up from 1,313 on Thursday, with 483 of those in the outbreaks in Bolton and Blackburn.
