Footage has emerged of snaking queues around surge testing sites in Wandsworth and Lambeth as people await Covid-19 tests. 

Dozens of masked people can be seen queuing in Brixton as additional testing to detect cases of the South African variant was rolled out yesterday (April 12). 

One person, who took a video of the queue for surge testing outside Lambeth Town Hall today, described the lengthy queue as a "handy" two-minute 20-second walk.

Around 44 confirmed cases have been found mostly in Wandsworth and Lambeth, and a further 30 probable cases of the South African variant identified, according to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

People aged 11 and over who live, work or travel through those areas are being urged to take a Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, on top of twice-weekly rapid testing.

It is said that those who have tested positive for the variant since the first case was detected in March are isolating or have completed their isolation. Their contacts have also been traced and asked to isolate.

However, the cluster of cases has been described as "significant," and the urgent response is the Government's "largest surge testing operation to date."