HEALTH Secretary Matt Hancock said that up to three-quarters of new coronavirus cases were the Indian variant.

Confirmed cases of the Indian variant of Covid-19 have doubled in a week to reach almost 7,000, although hospital admissions remain broadly flat, data shows.

He told a Downing Street press briefing on Thursday: “The latest estimates are that more than half and potentially as many as three-quarters of all new cases are now of this variant.

“As we set out our road map we always expected cases to rise, we must remain vigilant.

“The aim, of course, is to break the link to hospitalisations and deaths so that cases alone no longer require stringent restrictions on people’s lives.”

In some areas affected by the Indian variant of coronavirus, hospital admissions are rising, Public Health England said.

Across England, 201 people who were confirmed to have the Indian variant had attended A&E up to May 25, resulting in 43 admissions.

Hospital attendances and admissions are predominantly in unvaccinated people, Public Health England added.

Hancock said the increase in cases of the Indian variant remained focused in “hotspots” where surge testing and vaccinations were taking place.

He said: “The increase in cases remains focused in hotspots and we are doing all we can to tackle this variant wherever it flares up.

“Over the past six months we now have built a huge testing capacity at our disposal and we are using this to surge testing into the eight hotspot areas and other places where the cases are lower but rising.

“In the hotspot areas we are surging vaccines, too, for those who are eligible, in Bolton for instance we have done 17,147 vaccinations in the last week.”