[ad_1]
Due to the new variant of Corona, several countries have interrupted flight connections with Great Britain. Landings are also prohibited in Germany from midnight. Individual cases of the mutation have been detected in several EU countries.
Due to the new variant of the corona virus discovered in Britain, many countries are cutting transport links to the UK. To protect against the mutation, planes arriving from Great Britain can no longer land in Germany from Monday to December 31. The Federal Ministry of Transport ordered this on Sunday. Therefore, pure cargo flights are excluded.
Health Minister Jens Spahn said in Report from Berlin, A more far-reaching regulation for the period from January 1 and an entry restriction also for South Africa should begin today through a cabinet vote in a circular procedure. In South Africa a viral mutation similar to that of Great Britain had appeared.
Several countries prevent entry from the island.
Numerous other countries had also announced flight bans or border closures with the United Kingdom on Sunday, including Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Bulgaria and Ireland. Austria also had a landing ban for flights from Great Britain. In addition, Switzerland suspended flight connections to Great Britain and South Africa. Poland will suspend flights from Monday at midnight.
France imposed an entry ban on UK travelers by air, sea and land. Therefore, the major British Channel Port of Dover and the Eurotunnel were closed at midnight. Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Canada and the Gulf state of Kuwait also stopped flights from the UK.
Mutation not yet detected in Germany
Individual cases of infection with the new Corona variant have also occurred outside the UK. According to the World Health Organization, this affected Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia. In Australia, however, it was only one case that did not spread further. The Italian Ministry of Health also reported one case.
According to Health Minister 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. “Significantly faster transferability, as assumed in this case, would of course change a lot and that is why it is important to avoid entry into Germany, into continental Europe,” Spahn said.
On Sunday night before the landing ban came into effect, the entry of air passengers from Great Britain was stopped at several German airports. In Hannover, this affected about 63 passengers on a flight from London in the evening. Preparations have been made for emergency overnight stays at the airport. Everyone must undergo PCR testing. Air travelers from London also had to be screened in Stuttgart.
Crisis meetings in London and Brussels
Faced with the growing isolation of his country, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called an emergency meeting of his government for Monday. A “constant flow of goods” to and from Great Britain must be ensured.
The German presidency of the EU Council also invited a crisis meeting for Monday, in which the EU countries should coordinate a joint reaction to the new Corona variant. French President Emmanuel Macron, Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and EU Council President Charles Michel had already discussed the situation in a phone call on Sunday.
Experts don’t expect vaccines to be affected
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. Prime Minister Boris Johnson emphasized Saturday that there was no evidence that vaccines against the mutation were less effective.
Experts also warn against panic. “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.
