Commenting on reports of the first UK cases of the new COVID-19 variant, the chief executive of NHS Providers, Chris Hopson said:

"NHS trusts are already working on contingency plans should this variant prove to evade the existing vaccines. We learnt a huge amount in January when the NHS expanded capacity to deal with 34,000 hospitalised COVID-19 patients at the drop of a hat. The NHS showed then how resilient and effective it is at times of extreme pressure.

"But there are obviously concerns that any spike in serious cases from this new variant could coincide with the NHS' peak winter period, particularly given the fact that the service is already at full stretch."