The discovery of the Indian variant in Britain was not announced to the public by ministers for a fortnight while thousands of potentially infected people were allowed to enter the country.
Ministers were given the news of the variant’s arrival on April 1 but no official statement was made until April 15. India was not placed on the red list banning travellers from the country for another eight days.
By contrast, last December a travel ban was imposed on South Africa within two days after it was discovered that the strain from that country had entered Britain.
The Indian variant was spreading fast across India by late March and the country’s health officials had warned that it could be highly infectious and might undermine vaccines.
