[ad_1]
More and more countries UK connections are suspended Faced with the “out of control” advance of a new strain of the coronavirus, which has led to the British Prime Minister, Boris johnson, to convene an emergency meeting to address domestic supply in the face of increasing isolation.
However, experts from the European Union opined that current vaccines against covid-19 are effective also for that strain, the German government announced.
“For all 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” which remain “just as effective,” he said. the German Health Minister, Jens spahn, to the public television channel ZDF.
Of the same opinion are the American experts, who consider that “at the moment no strain of the virus seems resistant to the available vaccines”, said the main adviser of the government vaccination program, Moncef slaoui, who assured that his country watches “very carefully” the new variant.
Germany’s decision to interrupt its connections with the United Kingdom, which only affects flights for now, should be made official in the next few hours, a government source told AFP, who specified that European states are analyzing a common response to the connections. maritime, rail and road with the United Kingdom.
However, some countries have already taken measures, such as France, which suspended all movements of people from the United Kingdom as of midnight on Sunday for 48 hours. “Only unaccompanied freight will be authorized. The flow of people or transport towards the United Kingdom is not affected, ”the government said.
In addition to Germany and France, a dozen European Union countries, including Italy and Ireland, announced similar measures. The Netherlands also prohibited the entry of passengers from the United Kingdom by sea.
Outside the EU, Kuwait, Iran (two weeks), Switzerland, El Salvador and Israel also suspended connections with England and the last three even with South Africa where the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been discovered.
Saudi Arabia also suspended all international flights as well as access to its ports for at least a week. However, the United States is not currently contemplating suspending connections, Slaoui said.
On the other hand, in Chile, the Government announced that from 00:00 hours on Tuesday (local time) the entry of non-resident foreigners who have been in the United Kingdom in the last 14 days is prohibited. Along with that, it was decided to suspend air traffic between Chile and the United Kingdom.
As a result of these measures, Boris Johnson will chair a meeting this Monday to “analyze the situation regarding international movements and in particular the regular flow of freight to and from the United Kingdom”, while the port of Dover announced the closure for maritime traffic coming out of it.
The new strain “is out of control”, acknowledged on Sunday the British Minister of Health, Matt hancock, which justified the reconfinement of London and south-east England. “It will be very difficult to keep it under control until a vaccine is widely distributed.”
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, and European Council President Charles Michel spoke on Sunday to discuss the variant of the coronavirus.
“No proof”
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Agency for Disease Control (ECDC) They urged their members in Europe to tighten controls to combat the spread of the new strain, in particular by detecting it.
The ECDC, which includes some thirty countries including members of the EU and the United Kingdom, “does not exclude” that the variant circulates outside the British territory.
In fact, Italy announced on Sunday that it had detected a first case diagnosed by the Celio military hospital in Rome. Other cases have also been registered in Denmark (9), the Netherlands and Australia, according to the WHO, which recommended that its members “increase their [capacidades de] sequencing ”of the virus.
In addition to “preliminary signs, which indicate that the variant could be more contagious,” the new British strain “could also affect the effectiveness of some diagnostic methods,” according to the WHO.
In contrast, at the moment, there is “no evidence of a change in the severity of the disease.”
Boris Johnson explained Saturday that the new strain is up to 70% more contagious than the old one.
[ad_2]
