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The Dutch government has banned all passenger flights from Britain after finding the first case of a new, more infectious strain of coronavirus circulating in the UK.
The ban, from 6 a.m. local time to January 1, came hours after Britain announced a stay-at-home order for part of the country to slow down the new variant.
Meanwhile, Belgium suspends flight and train arrivals from Britain from 11pm tonight in response to the new strain.
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told Belgian TV channel VRT that the ban will be in effect for at least 24 hours.
The Dutch health ministry said: “An infectious mutation of the Covid-19 virus is circulating in the UK.
“It is said to spread easier and faster and is more difficult to detect.”
The Dutch public health body, RIVM, therefore “recommends that any introduction of this strain of virus from the UK be limited as much as possible by limiting and / or controlling passenger movements.”
The health ministry added that a “case study in the Netherlands in early December revealed a virus with the variant described in the UK.”
Read more: Latest Covid-19 Stories
Experts were analyzing how the infection happened and if there were any related cases.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s cabinet had now made the “precautionary decision” to ban flights from Britain, the statement said, adding that other forms of transport are still under review.
He urged Dutch citizens not to travel unless strictly necessary.
“Over the next few days, together with other EU member states, (the government) will explore the possibility of further limiting the risk of the new strain of the virus being brought in from the UK,” the statement said.
The Netherlands is under a five-week lockdown until mid-January with schools and all non-essential stores closed to stem the rise of the virus.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said early data suggests that the virus circulating in London and south-east England is up to 70% more transmissible.
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