Travel ban for S America, Portugal

TRAVEL to the UK from all of South America as well as Portugal will be banned from 4am today because of concerns over the Brazilian variant of coronavirus, the Government has said.

Panama and Cape Verde will also be included in the ban decided by ministers on the Government’s Covid-O committee yesterday, after Boris Johnson said he was “concerned” about the new strain.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced the “urgent decision” to halt flights from the nations in an attempt to reduce the potential spread of the variant, with experts uncertain how effective existing vaccines will be against it. He said travel from Portugal was being suspended due to its “strong travel links with Brazil”, but there will be an exemption for hauliers travelling from Portugal. Mr Shapps also said there is an exemption for British and Irish nationals with residence rights, but they must self-isolate for ten days along with their households.

Scientists analysing the Brazilian variant believe the mutations it shares with the new South African strain seem to be associated with a rapid increase in cases in locations where previous attack rates are thought to be very high.