[ad_1]
Brussels, Belgium – EU ambassadors will hold a crisis meeting in Brussels on Monday on UK travel restrictions after the emergence of a new strain of coronavirus that is suspected of being highly infectious.
Several EU countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands) have announced the suspension of air connections and, in some cases, of rail and ferry connections with Great Britain.
In most cases, the bans went into effect at midnight (2300 GMT) Sunday and were to last for a day or two, as a precaution while the threat from the new strain was assessed and a coordinated response developed.
An EU official said ambassadors from the representatives of the 27 member states would meet on Monday under the bloc’s integrated political crisis response mechanism, designed to react quickly to crises.
They would examine measures such as flight bans and the use of PCR coronavirus testing on travelers from Britain.
The meeting comes after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday that he was imposing a severe lockdown on London and much of south-east England due to the new strain of the virus.
He said the variant could be up to 70 percent more infectious, based on preliminary data showing it had become the predominant strain in the capital and that the number of cases was increasing despite increased restrictions.
He and government medical officials said there was no indication that the new variant was more deadly or immune to the vaccines that are beginning to be used.
The World Health Organization said it was analyzing data from Britain to see if the uncontrolled infection figures in Britain were the result of a more potent strain.
The coronavirus has changed into many different variants as it has spread around the world as an expected result of interacting with different hosts with different biological responses.
But so far none have been shown to be more virulent than others or able to easily overcome the barriers (social distancing, face masks and frequent hand washing) currently recommended.
For more news on the new coronavirus, click here.
What you need to know about the coronavirus.
For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
The Inquirer Foundation supports our healthcare leaders and still accepts cash donations to be deposited into the Banco de Oro (BDO) checking account # 007960018860 or donate through PayMaya using link .
Read next
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer and more than 70 other titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download from 4am and share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
For comments, complaints or inquiries, please contact us.
[ad_2]
