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PARIS (AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS, BLOOMBERG) – More than 50 countries have imposed travel restrictions on Britain in a bid to stop the spread of a new, more infectious strain of the coronavirus now found in France and Spain and even to Japan.
Several others, including Denmark, Lebanon, Germany, Australia and the Netherlands, have also reported cases of the new strain of Covid-19, which has caused jitters in already overstretched healthcare services.
Beginning Dec. 28, the United States will require passengers flying from Britain to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test no more than 72 hours before departure, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. from the United States.
Last week, the CDC said that the new British variant Covid-19 could already be circulating in the United States without being detected. Initial analysis of the mutated strain suggests that it may be up to 70 percent more transmissible than other circulating strains.
Norway extended its ban on flights from Britain until December 29, the Health Ministry said on Friday.
“It is still possible for flights to be suspended until after the New Year,” the ministry said.
In France, authorities reopened the borders with Great Britain, but instituted a testing policy, after a 48-hour ban.
For now, only French or EU citizens, those with residence rights there, or business travelers can cross from Britain, if they provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test of less than three days.
The easing of the restrictions was aimed at allowing French citizens to return home and alleviating a massive accumulation of goods.
The Home Office said limits on travel from Britain will continue “until at least January 6.”
Regions from Hong Kong to Canada have temporarily suspended travel from Great Britain.
Hong Kong also banned all recent travelers from South Africa, where another Covid-19 strain was found in some infected people, and extended the mandatory quarantine for most other overseas arrivals to 21 days.
The UK itself has imposed restrictions on arrivals from South Africa.
Meanwhile, South Africa has rejected claims that its strain is more infectious or dangerous than Britain’s.
While Britain’s variant of the virus has a mutation that occurs at a common site with the South African strain, they are “two completely independent lineages,” South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.
More cases detected
Around the world, countries are beginning to find the new British variant Covid-19 on their shores.
France reported its first case of the variant late on Friday, found in a citizen living in Britain, who arrived from London on December 19.
The French Health Ministry said he was asymptomatic and was isolating himself at his home in Tours.
In Spain, four cases of the British variant were confirmed yesterday in Madrid. The patients “were not seriously ill,” said the deputy director of Health of the Community of Madrid, Antonio Zapatero.
Sweden detected the British variant in a traveler from Great Britain, its health agency said yesterday, while Italian authorities also found an infected patient in Rome.
In Japan, five people who entered the country from Britain were confirmed to have the mutated form of the virus, the Japan Times reported on Friday.
Two of them arrived at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, while the remaining three arrived at Kansai International Airport in Osaka.
The World Health Organization said cases of the British strain have also been found in Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia.
Launch of the vaccine in the EU
The spread of the virus and its mutations occurs when the European Union prepares to launch a vaccine.
The pandemic has now claimed more than 1.7 million lives, but the launch of vaccination campaigns around the world raises hopes that 2021 may bring a respite.
The first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine arrived yesterday in Italy, Spain and France ready for distribution to elderly care facilities and hospital staff.
“We will regain our freedom, we will be able to hug each other again,” Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said, urging people to get the vaccine.
Vaccinations in the 27 countries of the European Union will begin today.
The WHO asked people to respect social distancing guidelines so as not to “waste” the “great and heartbreaking sacrifices” that others had made to save lives.
“Vaccines are offering the world a way out of this tragedy. But it will take time for everyone to be vaccinated,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
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