[ad_1]
Due to the new variant of the corona virus, air traffic from Great Britain to Germany will be suspended. After midnight, landings from Great Britain are prohibited, Health Minister Spahn confirmed in the Report from Berlin.
The federal government has banned flights from Great Britain and Northern Ireland due to a new strain of the corona virus. Health Minister Jens Spahn said in Berlin report. As also announced by the Federal Ministry of Transport, they refer to an EU regulation. With this, the regulation could be applied from midnight until December 31.
More far-reaching regulation for the period from January 1 and an entry restriction for South Africa as well should begin on Monday through a cabinet vote in a circular procedure, Spahn said. A comparable mutation had also occurred in the African country.
Spahn warns not to travel
Spahn again appealed to the population to reduce contacts, especially at Christmas. “It’s not about everyone breaking the rules. Most citizens don’t, but they try to celebrate Christmas with their closest family.” Unnecessary travel should be avoided.
According to Spahn, the new variant of the virus has not yet been detected in Germany. The Federal Government and the Robert Koch Institute are in close contact with other European countries, including Great Britain itself, to assess the consequences of the mutation.
Other countries stop air traffic
According to internal sources, the EU is still working on a joint decision on restrictions for road and maritime transport with Britain. Several EU countries have already stopped their air traffic with Great Britain or announced it in the face of the rapid spread of the new variant of the corona virus in England. These include the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, and Austria. In the evening, President Emmanuel Macron chaired a crisis meeting in Paris on the situation of the corona and the response to the new mutation of the coronavirus.
Chancellor Angela Merkel had already telephoned French President Emmanuel Macron and the heads of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel about the matter.
Experts: “There is currently no cause for alarm”
According to British authorities, the virus mutation is up to 70 percent more contagious than the previously known form and is spreading rapidly, especially in London and south-east England. Authorities ordered a closure with exit and travel bans for the region. Prime Minister Boris Johnson emphasized Saturday that there was no evidence that vaccines against the mutation were less effective.
“I don’t see any cause for alarm at the moment,” said Richard Neher of the Biozentrum at the University of Basel. And Andreas Bergthaler of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (CeMM) in Vienna does not consider the current development to be “incredibly alarming”. It is not uncommon for mutations to appear. At the moment it is not known if the observed changes significantly modify the properties of the pathogen.
In view of the effectiveness of vaccination, experts emphasize that the vaccine creates an immune reaction against various characteristics of the virus. Therefore, changes in individual characteristics would not lead to the immune system no longer recognizing the pathogen, Neher said. You have to closely watch the subsequent dynamics.
