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Germany has extended its ban on travelers arriving from the UK until January 6, even though the EU has told countries to lift restrictions to allow essential travel and minimize disruption to trade.
“The German government has extended its ban on passenger flights arriving from the UK to Germany to a ban on all forms of transport until Wednesday 6 January 2021,” states the Foreign Ministry’s travel council for the country.
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Trucks on the Kent track as the M20 queue continues
“During this period, transport operators are prohibited from offering air, bus, ferry and train travel from the UK to Germany.
“As of January 1, 2021, transport operators can apply to the German authorities for an exemption for the transport of persons residing in Germany. Please contact your transport operator for more information.”
Dozens of countries they have blocked people arriving from Great Britain about the fears about the new coronavirus variant that is said to be much more transmissible.
France took a step further stopping UK truck drivers crossing the English Channel with their cargo, creating chaos on the approach to Dover.
But after talks between London and Paris, France announced that French and EU citizens and British residents in France will be allowed to enter the country from midnight, provided they can show a negative PCR test from the last three days. .
However, Sky News understands that the UK is pushing for rapid response lateral flow testing on truck drivers with the help of the military.
France stopped the carriers and their cargo crossing into the country from Kent, but an agreement was reached to resume the crossings.
These return results within 15 to 30 minutes, but PCR tests can take 24 hours to return.
The French prime minister’s office said it will announce specific measures to resume trade and transport from the UK to France “in the next few hours.”
Following talks on Tuesday, the EU Commission said in a statement that it was “important to take rapid temporary preventive measures” to limit the spread of COVID-19.
But he added: “Flight and train bans should be suspended given the need to guarantee essential travel and avoid supply chain disruptions.”
EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders added that “general travel bans should not prevent thousands of EU and UK citizens from returning to their homes” in the lead up to Christmas.
Within hours, Ireland announced that it would defy the request and maintain its travel ban to Great Britain until December 31.
The variation of the coronavirus that has wreaked havoc is known as VUI-202012/01. It was found predominantly in London and the south-east of England.
But it has also been discovered in all regions of England, Wales and Scotland, albeit in “very small quantities”.
76,287 people in the UK have so far died from COVID-19
Similar strains have been detected in Denmark and Australia, and other variants that appear very similar have been detected in South Africa, the Netherlands and other countries, said Dr Susan Hopkins of Public Health England.
Ireland to introduce stricter restrictions from Christmas Eve for fear that the new variant is spreading there, Prime Minister Micheal Martin announced on Tuesday.
“We still have no evidence that the new and most virulent strain of the virus is in our country, but the growth rate over the last week tells me that the safest and most responsible thing to do is to proceed with the assumption that it is already here,” he said. .
But the head of BioNTech, one of the companies behind the only coronavirus vaccine approved for use in the UK, previously said trust the jab to be effective against the new variant.
Around 500,000 people in the UK have received the first immunization shot, but England could face another effective lockdown in the new year while deployment continues.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has expressed his hopes that life will return to normal by Easter, marking one year since the first shutdown.
During the pandemic, 76,287 people in the UK have died with COVID-19 on their death certificates, one of the highest death figures in the world.
