Britain’s travel ban list expands by four countries
Worries over new covid-19 variants prompt the decision
LONDON — The British government is gearing up to ban international arrivals from four more countries — Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan and the Philippines — amid concerns over new virus variants but opted against including European nations that are facing a resurgence.
The Department for Transport said Friday the number of countries on its “red list” will reach 39 when the latest restrictions take effect in England beginning next Friday. The other nations of the U.K. — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — have similar lists.
Under the travel bans, international visitors who have departed from or traveled through red-list countries in the preceding 10 days are refused entry to England. Countries on the list include Brazil and South Africa, where two of the most concerning variants have been identified.
British and Irish citizens and people who have residence rights in the U.K. can enter, as commercial flights are not banned. However, they must quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 10 days at their own expense and must take a covid-19 test on days two and eight of their self-isolation.
The measures are aimed at reducing the risk posed by new variants into the U.K., which has recorded Europe’s highest covid toll, with more than 126,500 deaths.
No European nations are on the British red list, even though much of Europe is witnessing a resurgence of the virus that has prompted many countries to reimpose lockdown restrictions. Health experts say the surge is being driven by variants, including the one first identified in Britain, that are sweeping the continent.
The World Health Organization on Thursday bemoaned the slow pace of vaccinations in European nations other than Britain, saying they were losing the race to protect their people.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government has faced questions in recent days as to why France, which is suffering one of the worst outbreaks in Europe, is not on the list. Yet putting France on the red list could have serious implications for trade flows in and out of the U.K., given its reliance on traffic from cross-Channel ports.
The U.K. transport department said the majority of cases of the South African variant detected in England so far were linked to international travel and that very few are thought to have come from Europe.
The U.K. has seen new infections and deaths fall sharply since the winter amid a strict 3-month lockdown and a rapid rollout of vaccines. The U.K. has now given a first shot to more than 31 million people, or about 46% of its population, a much higher rate than the rest of Europe.
This week, restrictions on gatherings in England were relaxed following a big drop in new cases — allowing groups of up to six people, or two households, to meet outdoors.
Johnson on Friday urged people to follow the rules and to not mix indoors during this Easter weekend, even if people have received a shot.
“Even though your friends and family members may be vaccinated, the vaccines are not giving 100% protection, and that’s why we just need to be cautious,” he said during a question-and-answer session on Twitter. “We don’t think that they entirely reduce or remove the risk of transmission.”
SIDE-EFFECT SCARES
The Dutch government said Friday it is temporarily halting AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccinations for people younger than 60, following reports of a very small number of people suffering unusual blood clots after receiving the shot.
The Dutch decision comes three days after authorities in Germany also stopped using the AstraZeneca vaccine in people under 60, citing fresh concerns over the blood clots.
Earlier Friday, a Dutch organization that monitors vaccine side effects said it had received five reports of clots with low blood platelet counts following vaccinations. All the cases occurred between seven and 10 days after the vaccinations and all the people affected were women between 25 and 65.
The organization said that in the period when the five cases were reported, some 400,000 people were vaccinated with the AstraZeneca shot in the Netherlands.
Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said the temporary halt is a precautionary measure.
“I think it is very important that the Dutch reports are also properly investigated,” De Jonge said. “We must err on the side of caution.”
The news is another setback for the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is critical to Europe’s immunization campaign and a linchpin in the global strategy to get shots to poorer countries because it is cheaper and easier to use than rival vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. It comes two weeks after the EU drug regulator said the vaccine does not increase the overall incidence of blood clots following a similar scare.
The European Medicines Agency said at the time that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks, but it could not rule out a link between the shot and some unusual kinds of clots, and it recommended adding a warning about possible side effects.
Most European Union countries, including Germany, resumed using the AstraZeneca vaccine March 19.
De Jonge said the Dutch pause comes ahead of an update on the vaccine next week from the EU medicines agency.
VARIANTS RISING
In Japan, a surge in infections in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, among other places, has been attributed to an increase in cases of variants that are said to be more contagious.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga expressed concern that variants were detected in 50% of those who tested positive in Osaka and 70% in Hyogo. “We will further strengthen monitoring,” Suga said.
According to data presented to the advisory body Wednesday, tests for variants were conducted on 181 of 431 people confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus in Hyogo Prefecture from March 15-21, of which 128 tested positive. In Osaka Prefecture, where 852 infections were confirmed during that period, 52 of 187 tested for variants came up positive.
Conversely, of 124 people who were tested for variants in Miyagi Prefecture, one came up positive, while six of 87 did so in Tokyo.
As of Tuesday, the combined number of confirmed cases involving variants was 801 nationwide, with Hyogo and Osaka accounting for about 40% of the total. More than 90% of the variants were of the strain first observed in Britain that is said to be highly infectious.
The higher number of variant infections in the Kansai region is said to be attributed to increased activities of young people following the lifting of the state of emergency at the end of February.
“There is a possibility that a similar situation will occur in the Tokyo metropolitan area and other places,” said Kazunori Tomono, head of the Osaka Institute of Public Health.