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Countries around the world have imposed travel restrictions from the UK due to fears of a new strain of the coronavirus.
Russia and India are among the latest countries to announce new measures.
It comes as France says it is working on a plan to “ensure that movement from the UK can resume”, after it banned travel, including freight carriers.
- India will stop all flights from the UK until December 31, starting Wednesday
- Russia suspends all flights to and from Great Britain for a week
- The Netherlands has banned flights with UK passengers until January 1.
- Denmark suspended all flights from Great Britain for 48 hours starting Monday morning.
- Norway has also detained UK planes for two days.
- Israel’s Prime Minister ordered the country to “close the skies” after a cabinet meeting.
- Belgium has banned flights and train travel from the UK for 24 hours and more clarity is expected on Tuesday.
- Italy has banned air passengers from Great Britain until January 6 and also anyone who has transited the UK in the previous 14 days. Residents of Italy will still be able to leave Britain to return home.
- Austria has banned flights from the UK, but the length of the measure is unclear.
- Germany bans flights from the UK for an unspecified duration
- Spain will cut flights if there is no joint EU response to the threat posed by the new strain of the virus
- Portugal says that only the Portuguese and residents of the country can arrive from the UK. Everyone must show proof of a negative COVID test, which can be accessed at airports
- Bulgaria suspends flights from the UK until January 31
- Switzerland has announced a travel ban for all people arriving from the UK and South Africa.
- Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have agreed to ban flights from the UK until January 31.
- France will ban entry for 48 hours (starting Sunday night) to those coming from the UK (and accompanied cargo) by road, air, sea or rail.
- Malta suspends all flights to and from the UK as of Tuesday
- Sweden is preparing to ban entry from the UK, but details are still unclear
- Greece has extended the self-isolation time for those arriving from the UK from three to seven days.
- Turkey suspends flights from the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Netherlands, with the latter two countries among those where the new strain has also been found.
- Hong Kong has banned all flights from the UK and also announced that people who had recently made the trip will have to be quarantined for a further seven days, bringing the total isolation time to 21 days.
- Canada bans flights from the UK for 72 hours
- Saudi Arabia has suspended all international flights for travelers for a week
- Oman has closed its land, sea and air borders
- Kuwait has suspended all commercial flights and will close its land and sea borders until January 1.
- Jordan has suspended all flights to and from the UK until January 3
- El Salvador has banned travelers who have been in the UK in the previous 30 days, including transit.
- Ireland has banned flights and ferries from the UK for 48 hours
- The Czech Republic says arrivals who have spent at least 24 hours in UK territory should be isolated
- Colombia, Morocco, Chile, Finland and Argentina have also banned UK travelers
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Trucks queue up M20 after travel ban to France
A UK government spokesman said it was in contact with its European partners about the travel restrictions, but it was not immediately clear when or for how long they would last.
Boris Johnson said the new fast-moving variant of the virus, which he added, is believed to be 70% more transmissible than existing strains, appears to be driving a rapid spread of new infections.
The prime minister put London and much of the South East, where the new strain is most prevalent, into a Level 4 lockdown over the Christmas period in a bid to get the disease back under control.
Viruses mutate regularly and scientists have found thousands of different mutations among samples of the virus that causes COVID-19.
But many of these changes do not affect how easily the virus spreads or the severity of symptoms.
Britain has alerted the World Health Organization to the new variant, saying it accounts for around 60% of London cases.
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Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned that the country faces a “huge challenge”, adding that the mutation was “out of control” and could see areas trapped at Level 4 until the UK’s most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
The new variant has spread to all regions of England, as well as parts of Scotland and Wales. It has been seen in some European countries and even as far away as South Africa and Australia.
In Australia, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said two travelers who returned from the UK and tested positive for COVID-19 were found to carry the mutated variant of the virus.
