![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/WS4S6GRUIGDGKXSQP2ZAUYV7GE.jpg?smart=true&auth=c3544a7e19d42792a6820beb6ee1db434d91c4951ac9e7533de81623ad8b6400&width=400&height=225)
NHS Test and Trace worker instructs people on how to perform the Covid-19 test in Ealing, West London. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/PKFE5APCECNJDQ5AGZN3NZKDPE.jpg?smart=true&auth=13953774b00387e63f3c9c760275f976c24972e3c3b878378fcc6e0b2552859a&width=400&height=225)
Volunteers hand out the Covid-19 home test kit to a resident in Goldsworth and St Johns in Woking. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/2NHLODFJJ2V3RLEQ4UJTZYL7V4.jpg?smart=true&auth=0861a29ea889264691c629edaebeb6a13e1c320290b6f514d7253f0d182c97f7&width=400&height=225)
British health authorities plan to test tens of thousands of people in a handful of areas of England, including parts of Woking, in an attempt to stop a new variant of the coronavirus first identified in South Africa spreading in the community. AP Photo
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/KQTNXIT7CNFGA4RS5OOEZF56BQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=22d058d8116a00eb145b4681d97b3216d7b80652d2048be7e672ac73aed21471&width=400&height=225)
Volunteers Hanna and Sophie help to distribute coronavirus testing kits to residents in the Goldsworth Park and St John's suburbs of Woking. AFP
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/CHMZMNMG43D4SR5W4ON5VSIX7I.jpg?smart=true&auth=4997108b7f862d98ddbcc88d093645167ec7bc1ce2ba1a4104dd0292a8cdd2bf&width=400&height=225)
A resident picks up a home testing kit in Woking. AP Photo
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/SA5ROGO4VHYV7P2ALFFZ3FHRBA.jpg?smart=true&auth=377cce541ad89e80190a480f2c3c29fd1e74f136fd5b1f1c2319a3943b2b020b&width=400&height=225)
A police officer looks over Covid-19 home test kits stored at Woking Fire Station. Door-to-door testing of some eighty thousand people is underway. EPA
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/CQ5RAS2KVHERMTKW6C74UVWGD4.jpg?smart=true&auth=7e77b7380bd4ac345a3deb2cf22d1dfcb3d2fd1d45bfbbfaad0ca93858f2b5ff&width=400&height=225)
A volunteer helps to deliver Covid-19 home test kits in Woking. EPA
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/VYU2LEIUEICPKUZXPD3KBICSHE.jpg?smart=true&auth=b90e6d8b1276f63a1cc1859fd278b1dc634ef9017a32a7b5406f081544fced60&width=400&height=225)
An advertisement board is seen urging people to take a test in Woking. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/S5L4EKFVN4NFNAOAVGG7B3PXRE.jpg?smart=true&auth=bd5924231cecbfd4886ed739415f48d3108d9186e74b29b8f686a6defb02c8c6&width=400&height=225)
Volunteers go door to door delivering Covid-19 home test kits in Woking. EPA
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/AOD5J66GSSGUYWOVFKIENPYH4E.jpg?smart=true&auth=0c09be1cb76dc2312117e32b253a40a46d178cc99852d79513c87526324b106e&width=400&height=225)
Thousands of homes in England will be visited by door-to-door test teams to track the spread of the South African variant of Covid-19. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/5QVG75BNINJIKCMZ2LDLJ2ANKQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=5dab6c3b6b7ac4a8ef5e961b17f44894d2b333e73f5cb888b22da5c9b17a1a69&width=400&height=225)
A police officer is seen at Woking Fire Station. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/DILSU2APKWP4VHI47J22GJQ3W4.jpg?smart=true&auth=60a44059463edfedf53bcbd37e97d1e840cc4b39072f14fc31eb560c3000bb69&width=400&height=225)
People take their own Covid-19 swab test at a newly built testing facility in a car park in West Ealing, London, after it emerged that the South African variant of the coronavirus may have been identified in the local community. AP Photo
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/HUEVW6FVY3O5BGKTLDDY33X6RA.jpg?smart=true&auth=ea0bd64bb7c2368daf9774b7ba9252f286390b814bd1f4b05968aa0a9459883f&width=400&height=225)
Volunteers load boxes of home test kits into a van in Woking. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/NHQQVM5VFIR2U5PC7MD2A2WGAE.jpg?smart=true&auth=1ab711ef2d88b990119716ad73c4f1ac2e515f0945c6465e0a1bbf5c577f359f&width=400&height=225)
A woman gestures as she takes her own Covid-19 swab test in West Ealing, London. AP Photo
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/6BLNIRCJIWORROK7AY35H67RV4.jpg?smart=true&auth=e67ed293ae29d692a571fc4bc0702d6909a3ce6ae540604b47ea1aeb995da648&width=400&height=225)
People self-administer Covid-19 swab tests in Ealing, West London. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/WS4S6GRUIGDGKXSQP2ZAUYV7GE.jpg?smart=true&auth=c3544a7e19d42792a6820beb6ee1db434d91c4951ac9e7533de81623ad8b6400&width=400&height=225)
NHS Test and Trace worker instructs people on how to perform the Covid-19 test in Ealing, West London. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/PKFE5APCECNJDQ5AGZN3NZKDPE.jpg?smart=true&auth=13953774b00387e63f3c9c760275f976c24972e3c3b878378fcc6e0b2552859a&width=400&height=225)
Volunteers hand out the Covid-19 home test kit to a resident in Goldsworth and St Johns in Woking. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/2NHLODFJJ2V3RLEQ4UJTZYL7V4.jpg?smart=true&auth=0861a29ea889264691c629edaebeb6a13e1c320290b6f514d7253f0d182c97f7&width=400&height=225)
British health authorities plan to test tens of thousands of people in a handful of areas of England, including parts of Woking, in an attempt to stop a new variant of the coronavirus first identified in South Africa spreading in the community. AP Photo
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/KQTNXIT7CNFGA4RS5OOEZF56BQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=22d058d8116a00eb145b4681d97b3216d7b80652d2048be7e672ac73aed21471&width=400&height=225)
Volunteers Hanna and Sophie help to distribute coronavirus testing kits to residents in the Goldsworth Park and St John's suburbs of Woking. AFP
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/CHMZMNMG43D4SR5W4ON5VSIX7I.jpg?smart=true&auth=4997108b7f862d98ddbcc88d093645167ec7bc1ce2ba1a4104dd0292a8cdd2bf&width=400&height=225)
A resident picks up a home testing kit in Woking. AP Photo
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/SA5ROGO4VHYV7P2ALFFZ3FHRBA.jpg?smart=true&auth=377cce541ad89e80190a480f2c3c29fd1e74f136fd5b1f1c2319a3943b2b020b&width=400&height=225)
A police officer looks over Covid-19 home test kits stored at Woking Fire Station. Door-to-door testing of some eighty thousand people is underway. EPA
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/CQ5RAS2KVHERMTKW6C74UVWGD4.jpg?smart=true&auth=7e77b7380bd4ac345a3deb2cf22d1dfcb3d2fd1d45bfbbfaad0ca93858f2b5ff&width=400&height=225)
A volunteer helps to deliver Covid-19 home test kits in Woking. EPA
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/VYU2LEIUEICPKUZXPD3KBICSHE.jpg?smart=true&auth=b90e6d8b1276f63a1cc1859fd278b1dc634ef9017a32a7b5406f081544fced60&width=400&height=225)
An advertisement board is seen urging people to take a test in Woking. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/S5L4EKFVN4NFNAOAVGG7B3PXRE.jpg?smart=true&auth=bd5924231cecbfd4886ed739415f48d3108d9186e74b29b8f686a6defb02c8c6&width=400&height=225)
Volunteers go door to door delivering Covid-19 home test kits in Woking. EPA
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/AOD5J66GSSGUYWOVFKIENPYH4E.jpg?smart=true&auth=0c09be1cb76dc2312117e32b253a40a46d178cc99852d79513c87526324b106e&width=400&height=225)
Thousands of homes in England will be visited by door-to-door test teams to track the spread of the South African variant of Covid-19. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/5QVG75BNINJIKCMZ2LDLJ2ANKQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=5dab6c3b6b7ac4a8ef5e961b17f44894d2b333e73f5cb888b22da5c9b17a1a69&width=400&height=225)
A police officer is seen at Woking Fire Station. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/DILSU2APKWP4VHI47J22GJQ3W4.jpg?smart=true&auth=60a44059463edfedf53bcbd37e97d1e840cc4b39072f14fc31eb560c3000bb69&width=400&height=225)
People take their own Covid-19 swab test at a newly built testing facility in a car park in West Ealing, London, after it emerged that the South African variant of the coronavirus may have been identified in the local community. AP Photo
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/HUEVW6FVY3O5BGKTLDDY33X6RA.jpg?smart=true&auth=ea0bd64bb7c2368daf9774b7ba9252f286390b814bd1f4b05968aa0a9459883f&width=400&height=225)
Volunteers load boxes of home test kits into a van in Woking. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/NHQQVM5VFIR2U5PC7MD2A2WGAE.jpg?smart=true&auth=1ab711ef2d88b990119716ad73c4f1ac2e515f0945c6465e0a1bbf5c577f359f&width=400&height=225)
A woman gestures as she takes her own Covid-19 swab test in West Ealing, London. AP Photo
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/6BLNIRCJIWORROK7AY35H67RV4.jpg?smart=true&auth=e67ed293ae29d692a571fc4bc0702d6909a3ce6ae540604b47ea1aeb995da648&width=400&height=225)
People self-administer Covid-19 swab tests in Ealing, West London. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/WS4S6GRUIGDGKXSQP2ZAUYV7GE.jpg?smart=true&auth=c3544a7e19d42792a6820beb6ee1db434d91c4951ac9e7533de81623ad8b6400&width=400&height=225)
NHS Test and Trace worker instructs people on how to perform the Covid-19 test in Ealing, West London. Reuters
How mutant Covid strains affect vaccine effectiveness
As the UK embarks on testing campaign, fears grow over Covid-19 mutations
Tim Kiek
03 February, 2021
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