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LONDON: More countries have banned travel from the UK and the World Health Organization (WHO) called for stronger containment measures, as the British government warned that a highly infectious new strain of the virus was “out of control”.
While the WHO urged its European members to strengthen measures against a new variant of COVID-19 circulating in Britain, France blocked people and goods crossing the English Channel, while Germany, Ireland, Italy, Austria , Romania, the Netherlands and Belgium said they were moving. to block air travel.
A German government source said the restriction could be adopted by the entire 27-member European Union and that the countries were also discussing a joint response on maritime, road and rail links with Britain.
READ: Britain says new strain of COVID-19 ‘is out of control’
Despite growing concerns about the new strain, European Union experts believe it will not affect the effectiveness of existing vaccines, the German health minister said.
“Based on all we know so far,” the new strain “has no impact on vaccines,” which are still “just as effective,” Jens Spahn told public broadcaster ZDF, citing “conversations between experts from the authorities. European “.
France’s ban on all unaccompanied freight from Britain is especially painful as companies are struggling to swap merchandise with days to go for Britain to finally abandon EU trade structures in the wake of Brexit.
But “the flows of people or goods to the UK will not be affected,” Paris said in a statement.
Rome and Berlin said on Sunday they would both suspend flights to and from Britain from midnight. Dublin said it would suspend air links with Britain for “at least” 48 hours.
The Netherlands imposed a ban on UK flights starting at 6am (0500 GMT) on Sunday and Belgium said it would do the same starting at midnight with a ban on planes and trains from the UK.
Other countries that have stopped flights to the UK include Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
READ: WHO says in close contact with UK officials about new variant of COVID-19 virus
Alarm bells sounded 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, it was spreading. in parts of Britain.
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.”
Romania also said it had banned all flights to and from the UK for two weeks starting Monday afternoon.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and EU heads Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel held a conference call Sunday on the matter, Macron’s office said.
UNITED KINGDOM U-TURN
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 percent more transmissible, in a patient in September. 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 urgent work is being done to confirm this. “
READ: Italy prepares for Christmas closure as Europe fights COVID-19 surge
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 1100 GMT 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.
VACCINE ROLL
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 on Friday authorized Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the first nation to authorize Moderna’s two-dose regimen, now the second vaccine to be deployed 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 late Saturday, clearing the way for a vote on a COVID-19 aid package of roughly $ 900 billion for millions of Americans.
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