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This flight suspension is valid from today until January 1 (Getty).
The governments of the Netherlands and Belgium have suspended all flights from the United Kingdom, after it was discovered in the Netherlands that a new strain of the Corona virus is spreading in part of the British territory.
According to the Dutch decision, the suspension of the flight will take effect from Sunday at 06:00 (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 a bid to stem another wave of infections attributed to a new strain of the 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 said that the Dutch Public Health Authority “recommends that any entry of this strain of the virus, from the UK, be limited as much as possible by restricting and / or controlling the movement of passengers from the UK.”
The statement said the cabinet led by Mark Rutte had made a “precautionary decision” to ban flights from the UK, adding that the issue of travel by other means of transport was 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 the virus from the United Kingdom.”
The Netherlands is currently imposing a five-week lockdown until mid-January, with schools and non-essential shops closed, 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”.
Belgian decision
In the context, Belgium will suspend flights and train traffic from Great Britain from midnight on Sunday (23:00 GMT), a government official told AFP.
In a statement to Belgian television “VRT”, Prime Minister Alexander de Kroo explained that the suspension period will be at least 24 hours.
Germany is also considering banning flights from the UK and South Africa to prevent the spread of a new strain of the virus, a government source told the same agency on Sunday.
The source noted that, as in the Netherlands, the German government is considering taking a similar step as a “serious option” regarding flights from Britain and South Africa.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, during a news conference on Saturday, that the spread of the virus in the UK has increased as a result of a new strain of the virus that “spreads much more easily”, but added: ” There is no indication that it is more deadly or causes more serious symptoms “o Of the effectiveness of vaccines.
Residents of the capital and the south-east of England are currently subject to strict restrictions, according to which bars, restaurants and museums were closed last weekend, and will be placed under a new alert level, which is the fourth and highest . They will be asked to stay home until December 30 at the earliest.
(Brush from France)
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