Latest UK coronavirus news: Live updates as Germany, France and Ireland ban travel for new strain

Several European countries have announced travel bans from the UK to try to avoid importing the new strain of coronavirus to the continent.

Which countries have stopped travel from Great Britain and what modes of transport will be banned?

Ireland imposed a 48-hour ban on travel from Britain, the country’s transport minister confirmed.

The ferries will continue to operate for cargo transportation, and Eamon Ryan said Ireland needs “transportation to keep our shelves full” but all other passengers will be restricted.

The German government said that all UK flights, with the exception of cargo flights, will no longer be able to land in the country.

The ban begins at midnight tonight and will remain in effect until at least December 31.

France has said it will ban everyone from entering the country from the UK for 48 hours, starting at midnight tonight.

This includes freight, road, air, sea or rail carriers.

The UK has recorded the highest one-day rise in coronavirus infections, with 35,928 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total to more than 2.04 million.

There were also 326 other deaths within 28 days of a positive test for the virus, down from 534 on Saturday, my colleague reports. Emily Goddard.

Similar scenes to last night’s crowded train stations were seen this afternoon, as travelers booked last-minute Eurostar tickets to leave Britain before more EU states halted incoming travel.

The PA news agency reports that today there is a long line of passengers inside London’s St Pancras station waiting to board the sold-out Eurostar trains.

A 23-year-old French national, Francois, told the agency that he booked his ticket to Paris this morning after changing it next week.

“I know that it is not very good to leave and return to France. I haven’t seen my family for four and a half months.

“I tried to isolate myself as much as possible. I booked my train this morning, not very reasonable due to the evolution of the virus, “he admitted.

“It is quite a personal choice, I am not proud of it.

New Level 4 rules imposed in London and large swaths of the South East and East of England restrict travel for limited reasons, such as for work, education or care responsibilities; this also covers international travel.

France has also announced a suspension of all inbound travel from the UK from midnight tonight for 48 hours.

According to the prime minister’s office, the 48-hour traffic suspension will be used to agree on a new testing regime in collaboration with EU partners, before reopening borders with the UK.

Prime Minister Jean Castex tweeted: “Given the new health risk, and pending its assessment, all flows of people from the UK to France are suspended from midnight tonight, for 48 hours, and for all transport.

“We invite all French citizens to carry out a PCR test that may be required for any entry into French territory from the UK, at the end of the 48-hour precautionary period.”

Bulgaria will suspend flights to and from the UK from midnight tonight until January 31, the government said.

The Bulgarian Health Ministry previously decided to impose a mandatory 10-day quarantine on anyone arriving from the UK, but decided to temporarily suspend flights after a meeting.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn has also said that all flights from Britain to the country will be suspended from midnight.

He told the public broadcaster ARD on Sunday: “[The mutation] it has not yet been identified in Germany. But of course we take the reports from Britain very seriously. “

The United States is preparing to launch the Moderna coronavirus vaccine, and the attacks are scheduled to begin Monday.

The US pharmaceutical giant obtained emergency approval for its vaccine on Friday, a week after Pfizer became the first company to get its vaccine approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

On Sunday night, a committee of experts will meet in the US to discuss which groups should receive the first doses of the vaccine next.

The new strain of coronavirus spreading through London and south-east England has spread to other parts of the UK, a public health leader has warned.

Dr Susan Hopkins of Public Health England told Sky’s Sophy Ridge Sunday that although many regions had recorded cases of the new strain, these were “very small numbers” compared to London, Kent and parts of Essex.

He said it had been detected in Wales and Scotland, but not Northern Ireland.

Dr Hopkins also said she hoped that people who had rushed out of London, causing crowded trains on Saturday night, would cut down on their contacts.

“I understand people’s desire to go home to their families and loved ones who they can live with on a normal day-to-day basis and who wanted to get out of London last night.

“I hope that when you go to the place you move to reduce your social contacts and not communicate with anyone outside your home for the next 10 days, as that will help minimize the risk of transmission to other parts of the country.

“We know it is in other parts of the country in small amounts, but what we are trying to do is avoid further spread and rapid increases in the rest of the country,” he added.

Thailand has begun testing tens of thousands of people for Covid-19 after the country’s largest coronavirus outbreak was detected in a shrimp market southwest of the capital Bangkok.

As a result, the province of Samut Sakhon, where the market is located, was blocked. As of Sunday, 689 cases had been reported there, according to the Health Ministry.

Prior to this outbreak, Thailand had largely kept the virus at bay and only had a total of 5,000 Covid-19 infections since the pandemic began.

The Health Ministry expects to find “many more infections” and will examine 40,000 people in Samut Sakhon in the coming days.

Nursing homes in the UK are refusing to implement a rapid Covid testing scheme designed to allow family members to visit relatives.

More than a million lateral flow tests (LFTs), which return results in half an hour, have been sent to 385 nursing homes in England.

However, fears about the safety and accuracy of the tests have led many households to decide not to use them. This comes after the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said that LFTs only detected 48.9 percent of Covid-19 cases.

My colleague Samuel Lovett has the details: