Developments with variant SARS-CoV-2 continued to dominate global COVID-19 news today, with the United Kingdom reporting more record-high case numbers and new reports revealing more about the prevalence and risk.Meanwhile, a new risk assessment from European health officials said the UK variant may have emerged in September and is expected to push hospitalizations and deaths higher, and more countries reported the detection of the South African variant virus.UK cases hit new daily high, variant detected in increasing proportionsPublic Health England (PHE) today on Twitter reported 53,135 new cases, marking a new single-day high for the country.