Three news cases of the Manaus variant of coronavirus have been identified in South Gloucestershire.

The new cases are said to be close or household contacts with the two cases previously discovered in the area.

Another case has also been found in Bradford, taking the number of cases of the variant, named P1, detected in the UK to ten – seven in England (five of which in South Gloucestershire) and three in Scotland.

A Public Health statement said: “Contact tracing teams have followed up close contacts of the individual and advised them to isolate and get a test.”

Surge testing in specific postcode areas of Patchway, Bradley Stoke and Little Stoke has been taking place over the last two weeks.

READ MORE: Surge testing for Brazil Covid variant in South Gloucestershire extended