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The Dutch government has banned air travel from the UK due to fears about a new strain of the coronavirus.
The move comes after health authorities in the Netherlands confirmed at least one case of the same strain that has prompted parts of the UK to revert to lockdown rules.
The Dutch Health Ministry said the case had been identified in early December and is under investigation.
In the meantime, he said that “any introduction of this strain of virus from the UK should be limited as much as possible by limiting or controlling passenger movements from the UK as much as possible.”
The air traffic ban for UK passengers begins at 6am on December 20 and runs until January 1 at the latest.
The Dutch government said: “The cabinet is closely monitoring developments of the COVID-19 virus abroad and is investigating the possibilities for additional measures for other modes of transport.”
“In the coming days, in close cooperation with other EU member states, it will look into the possibilities of further restricting imports of the virus from the UK.”
the new strain of coronavirus – known as VUI 2020/01 – is believed to spread more rapidly than the original strain and is believed to be the reason for the rapid increase in infection rates in south-east England.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Saturday that the new strain could be “up to 70% more transmissible.”
“While we are fairly confident that the variant is transmitted more quickly, there is no evidence to suggest that it is more lethal or causes more serious disease,” he said.
“Likewise, there is no evidence to suggest that the vaccine will be less effective against the new variant.”
Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said the new variant is believed to have emerged in the UK in mid-September.
In December, it was responsible for more than 60% of infections in London, he said.
Johnson announced that millions of people in London and many parts of the South East will not be able to mix with other homes at Christmas, be under a new level of Level 4 restrictions since Sunday.
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