Health Minister Matt Hancock said the UK has recorded new cases of nCoV infection from South Africa.

"Thanks to South Africans' impressive genomic capabilities, we have found two cases of another new strain of nCoV in the UK," Hancock said at a press conference in London on December 23.

"This new strain is of great interest because it is even more contagious and it appears to have mutated further than the first new strain discovered in the UK," he added.

South Africa's Ministry of Health said last week it discovered a new strain of nCoV in the country and that could be the cause of the recent surge in cases.

On December 14, the UK announced the discovery of a new strain of nCoV, named "VUI - 202012/01", which has 20 more mutations than the original version and is believed to be 70% more infectious.

Hancock said close contacts of new nCoV infections are being quarantined and all those who have been to South Africa in the past two weeks also need quarantine.

Britain is the sixth largest epidemic region in the world with more than 2.1 million cases, of which more than 68,000 people died.