The Indian coronavirus variant has become the most prominent variant of the virus in Brent.

In mid-April Public Health England revealed there was at least one case of the Indian coronavirus variant in Harrow and one in Brent – but since cases have grown, while remaining relatively low.

The variant was detected in 127 local authorities in the week ending May 8 – compared with 71 in the week before – however 40 of these areas identified only one case.

Now data from the Wellcome Sanger Institute reveals just how much the Indian coronavirus variant has increased across Harrow, Brent and other areas in the UK.

In Harrow there were 3.50 sequences of the B.1.617.2 Indian variant in the last week, compared to 210 sequenced in Bolton – the area of most concern.

Brent had slightly more, with 9.50 sequences in the last week recorded.

This means that the new Indian variant has become the most prominent type of coronavirus in Brent, with the second highest variant being the B.1.1.7 at 7 sequences recorded.

In Harrow, the Indian variant has not caught up to the B.1.1.7 variant.

Harrow Times: The darker the colour, the higher the proportion of sequences of the variant were foundThe darker the colour, the higher the proportion of sequences of the variant were found

Elsewhere, Watford and Three Rivers have recorded their first cases of the variant, with 1.50 sequences recorded in each are respectively.

The data map available only shows samples that have been processed and sequenced with the Indian variant, not the real number of total cases.

Speaking in the Commons on Monday afternoon, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there were now 2,323 confirmed cases of the Indian variant in the UK, of which 483 were in Bolton and in Blackburn with Darwen.

The next biggest area of concern was Bedford, where testing was also now being surged, Mr Hancock said, and he added 86 local authorities across England have recorded five or more cases of the variant.

In the Commons yesterday, the Health Secretary said the majority of people admitted to hospital in Bolton, which has seen the biggest outbreak of B1.617.2 variant, had been eligible for the jab but had not taken it up.

Mr Hancock told MP's: "The majority have not been vaccinated and, of them, most of them could have been vaccinated, which is frustrating to see, but is also a message to everyone.

"It just reinforces the message that people should come forward and get vaccinated because that is the best way to protect everybody."

In Harrow, there has been a total of 137,574 doses of the vaccine distributed across the borough.