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Colombia, Chile, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Canada and Saudi Arabia are some of the countries that suspended or restricted their flights from the United Kingdom for a new, more contagious strain of the coronavirus, bad news that coincides with good news: the imminent approval of the first vaccine for the European Union.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, will preside over an emergency meeting this Monday to “analyze the situation regarding displacement international and in particular the regular flow of freight to and from the United Kingdom ”, while the country’s confinement increases as the hours go by.
This variant of the virus would be up to a 70% more contagious, although not proven to be more lethal.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that it could also affect “the effectiveness of some diagnostic methods.”
For all these reasons, the WHO urged to “reinforce controls” in Europe, since outside the British territory several cases of this new strain in Denmark (9) and one in Italy, the Netherlands and Australia, respectively.
Within the European Union (EU) more than a dozen countries interrupted or restricted their connections with the United Kingdom for a few days.
Further, all European states analyze a common response to maritime, rail and road connections with the United Kingdom.
Outside the EU, Canada, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, India, Iran, Switzerland, El Salvador and Israel also suspended connections with England and the last three even with South Africa, where it has also been discovered the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
US officials said they are watching “very carefully” the variant of the virus that spreads in the United Kingdom, but they do not consider for now to ban travel to or from the country.
“Out of control”
The new strain “is out of control,” Matt Hancock acknowledged Sunday., the British Minister of Health, who justified the reconfinement of London and South East England.
“It will be very difficult to keep it under control until a vaccine is widely disseminated,” said the minister.
The UK already started its general vaccination campaign against the coronavirus two weeks ago, using the drug developed by the Pzifer and BioNTech laboratories.
Despite doubts, experts from the European Union and the United States believed that the current vaccines against covid-19 are also effective for that strain.
“For all that we know so far, and after the discussions that have taken place between experts from the European authorities,” the new variant of the virus “has no impact on vaccines” they remain “just as effective,” said German Health Minister Jens Spahn.
The emergence of this new strain could not fall at a worse time for the UK, also immersed in negotiations about its post-Brexit relationship with the European Union, which seem to be at a dead end.
This grim picture of the health and business situation pushed Monday to the falls to the main European stock exchanges and the pound sterling.
Also this Monday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will pronounce on the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine so that the vaccination campaign in the European Union (EU) begins before the end of the year.
The Amsterdam-based EMA brought forward the meeting initially scheduled for December 29 by a week, under pressure from Germany and other countries who want a decision to be made quickly.
Countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Singapore and Switzerland are among the fifteen states that have already authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
States of the The EU plans to start the vaccination campaign on December 27, once the EMA gives its approval.
Agreement in USA
Around the world, the new coronavirus has claimed more than 1.6 million lives and infected more than 76 million people, according to a count by the AFP agency.
With 316,202 deaths and 17.65 million cases, The United States is the hardest hit country for the coronavirus.
The authorities announced that as of Monday, some 7.9 million more doses will be delivered to face the gigantic vaccination campaign. President-elect Joe himself Biden will be vaccinated during the day.
On Sunday, Democrats and Republicans reached an agreement to vote in Congress a new plan to support the economy, which was being negotiated since the local summer.
“We can finally say what our nation needed to hear for a long time. More (economic) aid is on the way, ”announced Republican Senate Chief Mitch McConnell, confirming that the stimulus will be almost 900,000 million dollars.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the pandemic has already caused 484,000 deaths and more than 14 million infections. Brazil is the most mourning country in the region, with more than 186,000 deaths from covid-19.
On Sunday, the authorities of the Bolivian department of Santa Cruz, the most populous in the country and on the border with Brazil, reported a “Aggressive” outbreak, which has already caused 1,600 cases in one week: that is, triple the number in the entire month of November.
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