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Several European countries, including Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands, have reacted to the discovery of a rapidly spreading strain of Covid-19 in England by announcing bans on flights carrying passengers from the UK, and France and Germany are considering similar plans.
The moves came as millions of people in London and the South East began their first full day of a new lockdown and UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the newly identified virus strain was “out of control”.
Belgium will suspend flight and Eurostar arrivals from Great Britain from midnight local time on Sunday. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told Belgian TV channel VRT that the ban would be in effect for at least 24 hours.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said the government had decided to act after the UK “raised the alarm about a new form of Covid as a result of a mutation of the virus.”
He added: “As a government we have a duty to protect Italians and that is why, after having warned the British government, the Health Ministry will sign a provision for the suspension of flights with the UK. Our priority is to protect Italy and our compatriots ”.
Di Maio did not offer further details, but flights arriving in Italy from the UK on Sunday are not expected to be immediately affected. Austria also plans to ban the flights, the APA news agency said, citing the Health Ministry.
The Dutch ban, which took effect at 6 a.m. local time on Sunday, will last until January 1.
Germany is considering banning flights from the UK and from South Africa, where the variant has also been detected, a source from the Health Ministry told Agence France-Presse.
A senior German government official told DPA news agency that restrictions on flights from Britain were a “serious option.”
France is also considering suspending flights and trains from Brittany after the new strain was detected, BFM Television reported.
The Spanish government said it had asked the European Commission and the European Council to present a “joint and coordinated response” to the situation, but added that it would “act in defense of the interests and rights of Spanish citizens” if it was not available. .
The European Commission did not immediately respond to an AFP inquiry on whether a ban on UK travelers would be recommended for all EU countries.
If it were to continue into January, the travel disruption could exacerbate transport problems caused by Brexit when Britain leaves the EU single market, which ensures movement within its borders.
The emergency restrictions announced by the UK government came after Public Health England said it had identified more than 1,100 cases of a new variant of coronavirus that could be accelerating the spread of the virus, particularly in south-east England.
“As a result of the rapid spread of the new variant, preliminary model data, and rapidly increasing incidence rates in the southeast, the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group (Nervtag) now believes that the new strain may spread more rapidly, ”the government’s medical director Chris Whitty said Saturday.
“We have alerted the World Health Organization and we continue to analyze the available data to improve our understanding.”
AFP and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
