European countries bid to fend off virus
SEVERAL European countries are imposing bans on flights from the UK in an attempt to make sure that a new strain of coronavirus sweeping parts of southern England does not reach their shores.
The Netherlands is banning flights from the UK for at least the rest of the year while Italy’s foreign minister Luigi Di Maio also announced curbs were being imposed.
Belgium’s prime minister issued a ban for at least 24 hours while the situation was assessed.
The Netherlands ban came into effect yesterday morning and the government said it was reacting to tougher measures imposed in London and surrounding areas on Saturday by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The Netherlands said it will assess “with other European Union nations the possibilities to contain the import of the virus from the United Kingdom”.
The Dutch government is already strongly advising its citizens not to travel unless absolutely necessary. Belgium has also banned flights from the UK and also banned rail connections. Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo said he was issuing the order for 24 hours starting at midnight “out of precaution”. “There are a great many questions about this new mutation and if it is not already on the mainland,” he said. He hoped to have more clarity as of tomorrow.
Italian foreign minister Luigi Di Maio said his country would also take action.
Mr Di Maio tweeted: “As the Government we have the duty to protect Italians, for this reason, after having advised the English (sic) Government, with the health ministry we are signing the measure to suspend flights with Great Britain.” Italian media reports suggested about two dozen flights were scheduled to arrive in Italy yesterday, most in the northern region of Lombardy but also in Veneto and Lazio, which include Venice and Rome, respectively.
More than 327,000 Italian citizens are registered as living in Britain. Yesterday was the last day that Italians could travel from one region to another before the Christmas holidays, due to a new partial lockdown imposed by the government to prevent a fresh surge in infections.
Austria and the Czech Republic were also imposing new measures against UK flights with Prague announcing stricter quarantine rules with all people arriving in the country having spent at least 24 hours in UK territory required to self-isolate.
Meanwhile, Germany is also considering limiting flights from Britain, the dpa news agency reported yesterday. The German government is in close contact with its European neighbours on the developing situation, dpa reported.