by Bajan Reporter / January 30th, 2021 The UK will offer its world leading genomics expertise to help identify new variants of the virus that cause COVID-19 in countries in the Caribbean and around the world. The announcement comes as part of a speech delivered by UK Health Secretary, Matt Hancock at Chatham House. As part of the UK’s Presidency of the G7 this year, the Health Secretary outlined his vision for a stronger, more collaborative and effective global health system, not just in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, but to ensure the international community is better prepared for future threats. Countries will be offered UK capacity to analyse new strains of the virus through the launch of the New Variant Assessment Platform which will be led by Public Health England (PHE) working with NHS Test and Trace and academic partners, as well as the World Health Organization’s SARS-CoV-2 Global Laboratory Working Group. This supports Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Five Point Plan, as outlined at the United Nations General Assembly last year, to protect humanity from another pandemic through a shared approach to global health security.