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LONDON (AFP): European countries have banned flights from the UK on Sunday (December 20) and the World Health Organization (WHO) called for stricter containment measures, as the British government warned that a powerful new virus strain was “out of control.” .
While the WHO urged its European members to strengthen measures against a new variant of Covid-19 circulating in Britain, the Netherlands imposed a ban on flights from the United Kingdom starting at 6:00 am (0500 GMT) on Sunday and Belgium said it would follow suit from midnight with a ban on UK planes and trains.
Alarm bells were ringing across Europe, which last week became the first region in the world to exceed 500,000 deaths from Covid-19 since the pandemic broke out a year ago, after it appeared that a new strain of the virus , even more infectious, was sweeping. in parts of Britain.
Germany was also considering a similar move as “a serious option” for flights from both Britain and South Africa, where another variant was discovered, according to a government source.
Italy will join the ban to protect its citizens, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio wrote on Facebook, without specifying when the measures would take effect.
Austria’s Health Ministry told the APA news agency that it would also impose a flight ban, the details of which are still being worked out.
A WHO Europe spokeswoman told AFP that “across Europe, where transmission is intense and widespread, countries must redouble their prevention and control approaches.”
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel held a conference call Sunday on the matter, according to the Elysee Palace in Paris.
Alarm bells
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the infectiousness of the new strain had forced him to impose a blockade on much of England over the Christmas period.
“Unfortunately the new strain was out of control. We have to get it under control,” UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News after Johnson changed his previously established policy of easing containment measures during the holiday season. .
Scientists first discovered the new variant, which they believe is 70% more transmissible, in a patient in September.
And Public Health England notified the government on Friday when modeling revealed the full severity of the new strain.
But Britain’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty noted that while the new strain was much more infectious, “there is no current evidence to suggest that it causes a higher death rate or affects vaccines and treatments, although is working urgently to confirm it. ” this.”
The new coronavirus has killed at least 1,685,785 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a count from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100GMT on Sunday.
And with the onset of colder winter weather in the northern hemisphere, where respiratory diseases flourish, countries are preparing for new waves of Covid-19 with tighter restrictions, despite the economic damage such lockdowns caused earlier in the year. this year.
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.
Italy also announced a new regime of restrictions until January 6 that included limits on people leaving their homes more than once a day, closures of nonessential shops, bars and restaurants, and restrictions on regional travel.
In Russia, health authorities said the number of people who have died from the coronavirus has passed the 50,000 mark and is now 50,858.
Vaccination launch
The rapid deployment of vaccines is now seen as the only effective way to end the crisis and the devastating economic shutdowns used to stop its spread.
Europe is expected to begin a mass vaccination campaign after Christmas after the United States and Britain, which have started pounding with an approved injection of Pfizer-BioNTech, one of several leading candidates.
Russia and China have also started giving injections with their own domestically produced vaccines.
The United States authorized Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use on Friday (December 18), paving the way for millions of doses of a second jab to be shipped to the worst affected country in the world.
It is the first nation to authorize Moderna’s two-dose regimen, now the second vaccine to be implemented in a western country after the one developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
The Wall Street Journal reported that US lawmakers agreed to pandemic spending powers for the Federal Reserve on Saturday night (December 19), clearing the way for a vote on a Covid-19 aid package of roughly $ 900bn for millions. of Americans.
The deal would maintain the central bank’s ability to establish emergency loan programs without congressional approval, the Journal said, but the Fed would require approval to restart existing CARES Act programs once they expire at the end of this year. – AFP
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