BERLIN (AP) – Many European countries and Europe are considering banning flights to the UK and Germany on Sunday to avoid a strong foothold on the new strain of coronavirus that has spread to southern England.
The Netherlands banned flights from the UK for at least the rest of the year while Belgium imposed a 24-hour flight ban starting at midnight and also suspended train links to Britain, including Eurostar. Austria and Italy said they would block flights from the UK but gave no details about the timing of the ban.
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Mayo said on Twitter that the government was preparing measures to “save Italy” from the new coronavirus variant. About two dozen flights were due to arrive in Italy on Sunday, mostly in the northern region of Lombardy, but also in Veneto and Lazio, including Venice and Rome, respectively.
German officials, meanwhile, were considering “serious options” for flights from the UK, but have not yet taken action.
Meanwhile, the Czech Republic imposed strictly accurate quarantine measures on people coming from the UK.
EU governments say they are taking action in response to harsh measures imposed on Saturday in and around London by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He immediately placed those areas under new Tier 4 level controls, saying the new strain of the transmissible virus, which is 70% faster than the current strain, spreads new infections rapidly in London and the south of England.
“There is no evidence to suggest that it is more fatal or causes more serious illness,” Johnson said, or that vaccines would be less effective against it.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Crow said on Sunday he was “cautiously” issuing a 24-hour flight ban starting at midnight.
“There are a lot of questions about this new change and if it’s not already on mainland,” he said. He hoped for more clarity by Tuesday.
The World Health Organization tweeted late Saturday that “we are in close contact with UK authorities on a new # COVID19 virus variant.” He promised to update governments and the public as more is learned about this type.
A new strain of coronavirus was identified in south-east England in September and has been circulating in the area ever since, a WHO official told the BBC on Sunday.
“What we understand is that it has increased transmissibility in terms of its ability to spread,” said Maria Van Kerkov, WHO’s technical lead on Covid-1O.
Studies are ongoing to better understand how it spreads and that it is “a combination of factors that are spontaneously related to behavior.”
He said the strain has also been identified in Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia, where there was one case that did not spread further.
“The longer this virus spreads, the more chances it has to change,” he said. “So we need to do everything we can right now to stop the spread, and reducing the spread will reduce the likelihood of it changing.”
Susan Hopkins of Public Health England said the variant had been circulating since September, but until this week officials did not feel they had enough evidence to declare it had more transmissibility than other circulating viruses. That strain has spread to other parts of the UK but to a lesser extent compared to London and its environs.
Germany has not yet imposed a ban, but is also considering limiting or blocking flights from the UK, the DPA news agency reported on Sunday. A top German official said the ban on flights from Britain was a “serious option”.
The wall has collapsed this fall due to new infections and deaths caused by the resurgence of the virus in Europe, and many countries have imposed a series of bans to rule in their fury.
The epidemic in Britain has killed more than 67,000 people, the second most confirmed in Europe after Italy.
On Saturday Johns closed all non-essential shops, hairdressers, gyms and bridges and asked Britons to reorganize their holiday plans. Tier 4 areas, including London, are no longer allowed to mix indoors, and only essential travel is allowed in and out of such areas. In the rest of England, people will be allowed to meet in Christmas bubbles for just one day instead of the five planned.
On Saturday, video emerged of crowds of people running to London railway stations, apparently side effects for places with less stringent coronavirus restrictions in the UK before the new rules take effect. “Those scenes were totally irresponsible,” said Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
“We have a responsibility in government, but everyone has the same responsibility,” he said. “I urge people to play their part. Because it is only through acting – all of us – that we can control this. “
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Reported by Raf F Casert in Brussels, Sylvia Hui in London and Karel Janicek in Prague.
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