Fearing new strain, Europe bans UK flights
Print Edition
SEVERAL European Union nations yesterday banned flights from the UK to make sure that a new strain of coronavirus sweeping across southern England does not establish a strong foothold on the continent.
The Netherlands banned flights from the UK for at least the rest of the year while Belgium issued a flight ban for 24 hours starting at midnight and also halted train links to Britain, including the Eurostar. Austria and Italy said they would halt flights from the UK but did not give details on any timing of the ban.
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Twitter that the government was preparing the measure “to protect Italians” from the new coronavirus variant. German officials were considering “serious options” regarding incoming flights from the UK, but have not yet taken action.
The Czech Republic, meanwhile, imposed stricter quarantine measures from people arriving from the UK.
The EU governments say they are acting in response to tougher measures imposed on Saturday in London and its surrounding areas by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
He immediately put those regions into a new Tier-4 level of restrictions, saying that a fast-moving new variant of the virus that is 70 percent more transmissible than existing strains appears to be driving the rapid spread of new infections in London and southern England.
“There’s no evidence to suggest it is more lethal or causes more severe illness,” Johnson said, or that vaccines will be less effective against it.
But on Saturday, video emerged showing crowds of people rushing to London train stations, apparently making a dash for places in the UK with less stringent coronavirus restrictions before the new rules came into effect. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said “those scenes were totally irresponsible.”
The World Health Organization tweeted late on Saturday that “We’re in close contact with UK officials on the new #COVID19 virus variant.” It promised to update governments and the public as more is learned about this variant.
The new strain of coronavirus was identified in southeastern England in September and has been circulating in the area since, a WHO official told the BBC yesterday. “What we understand is that it does have increased transmissibility, in terms of its ability to spread,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19.
Studies are underway to better understand how fast it spreads and whether “it’s related to the variant itself, or a combination of factors with behavior,” she said.
“The longer this virus spreads, the more opportunities it has to change,” she said. “So we really need to do everything we can right now to prevent spread, and minimizing that spread will reduce the chances of it changing.”
Susan Hopkins of Public Health England said it wasn’t until last week that officials felt they had enough evidence to declare that it has higher transmissibility than other circulating viruses. The strain has spread to other parts of the UK but in smaller amounts than in London and surrounding areas, she told the BBC.
Britain reported 27,052 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the total over 2 million, and 534 more deaths, taking the overall official toll to more than 67,000.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
