The Netherlands stops all flights from the UK

The Dutch government has suspended all flights from the UK after a new strain of coronavirus was discovered in the Netherlands in part of the British territory.

This suspension of flights will take effect from Sunday 20-12-2021 at 6:00 AM (05:00 GMT) until January 1.

The decision comes just hours after the British government announced the re-imposition of a stone in London and the south-east of England, in an attempt to stop another wave of infections attributed to a new strain of the Corona virus.

“An infectious strain of the Covid-19 virus is circulating in the UK. It is believed to spread more easily, faster and is difficult to detect,” the Dutch Ministry of Health said in a statement.

The statement stated that the Dutch Public Health Authority “recommends that any entry to this strain of the UK virus be limited as much as possible by restricting and / or controlling the movement of passengers from the UK.”

The statement said that the Council of Ministers headed by Mark Rutte made a “preventive decision” to ban flights from the UK, adding that the issue of travel by other means of transport is still under discussion.

Rutte asked Dutch citizens to avoid travel unless absolutely necessary.

The Health Ministry statement said: “Over the next few days, (the Dutch government) will discuss with other member states of the European Union the possibilities of reducing the risk of transmission of the new strain of virus from the UK.

The Netherlands is currently imposing a five-week shutdown until mid-January, with the closure of schools and non-essential shops, to slow the spread of the virus.

The Health Ministry stated that “a study of an infection in the Netherlands in early December revealed a virus identical to the (new) strain in the UK”.