Bans on travel from Britain began amid havoc from a new coronavirus strain.
New coronavirus strain worries with fast spread
BERLIN — A growing number of European Union nations and Canada barred travel from the U.K. on Sunday and others are considering similar action in a bid to block a new strain of coronavirus sweeping across southern England from spreading.
France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland and Bulgaria all announced restrictions on U.K. travel hours after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that Christmas shopping and gatherings in southern England must be canceled because of a rapid spread of infections that is blamed on the new coronavirus variant.
Johnson immediately placed those regions under a strict new Tier 4 restriction level, upending Christmas plans for millions.
France banned all travel from the U.K. for 48 hours beginning at midnight Sunday, and officials said that would buy time to find a “common doctrine” on how to deal with the threat. They specified that “flows of people or transport to the U.K. are not affected.”
Germany said all flights coming from Britain except cargo flights were no longer allowed to land starting midnight Sunday. It didn’t immediately say how long the flight ban would last. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said he was issuing a flight ban for 24 hours starting at midnight “out of precaution.” Belgium also halted train links to Britain, including the Eurostar.
On Sunday, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said “the new variant is out of control.” The U.K. recorded 35,928 further confirmed cases, about double the number from a week ago.
Germany, which holds the rotating EU presidency, called a special crisis meeting on Monday to coordinate the response to the virus news among the bloc’s 27 member states.
The Netherlands banned flights from the U.K. for at least the rest of the year. Ireland issued a 48-hour flight ban. Italy said it would block flights from the U.K. until Jan. 6, and an order signed Sunday prohibits entry into Italy by anyone who has been in the U.K. in the last 14 days.
Beyond Europe, Israel also said it was banning flights from Britain, Denmark and South Africa because those are the countries where the mutation is found.
Canada announced its own ban Sunday night. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement that for 72 hours starting at midnight Sunday, “all flights from the UK will be prohibited from entering Canada.” A follow-up statement from the government said cargo flights were not included in the ban.
The new strain was identified in southeastern England in September and has been spreading in the area ever since, a WHO official told the BBC on Sunday.
Patrick Vallance, the British government’s chief scientific adviser, said officials are concerned about the new variant because it contained 23 different changes, “an unusually large number of variants.”
Britain has seen over 67,000 deaths in the pandemic, the second-highest confirmed toll in Europe after Italy. Europe as a whole has recorded nearly 499,000 virus deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.