The cases of Indian COVID variant in the UK have risen twice within a week as fear of a third wave.

A total of more than 3,424 cases of Indian variant have been confirmed in the country of which more than 1000 cases have been discovered within the last three days and more than 2,000 within the last week.

The Indian variant of coronavirus B1617.2 is said to be more transmissible than its British counterpart which sparkled the second wave of the Pandemic in the United Kingdom a few months earlier.

The vast majority of the India variant cases are in England, where 3,245 cases have been confirmed, with 136 in Scotland, 28 in Wales, and 15 in Northern Ireland.

While most cases were concentrated in the northwest, particularly Bolton, and in London, but PHE said it was now seeing “clusters of cases” across the country.

Meera Chand, the COVID-19 PHE’s incident director, said it was essential people in the worst affected areas who had yet to receive their second dose of the vaccine came forward as soon as it was offered.

“This is vitally important in the light of our current assessment that (B1617.2) has grown rapidly in England and maybe highly transmissible,” she said.