The UK health authorities have designated a CCP virus variant first detected in India as a “variant of concern,” Public Health England (PHE) confirmed on Friday. PHE said it reclassified the variant from a “variant under investigation” to a “variant of concern” following “a rise in cases in the UK and evidence of community transmission.” There is evidence which suggests this variant, also known as B.1.617.2, is “at least as transmissible as B.1.1.7, which is known as the UK variant or the Kent variant,” PHE said, adding that the other characteristics of this variant are still being investigated. “We are monitoring all of these variants extremely closely and have taken the decision to classify this as a Variant of Concern because the indications are that this VOC-21APR-02 is a more transmissible variant,” said Dr. Susan Hopkins, COVID-19 Strategic Response Director at PHE. Cases of the variant, now known as VOC-21APR-02, …