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EU officials are considering a collective solution to a new, more contagious strain of Covid-19 in the UK, which has prompted several countries to ban travel.
In blocking flights from the United Kingdom, Canada and India entered European states when halting Europe-bound rail services through the Channel Tunnel. The latest version is claimed to be more transmissible by up to 70 percent, but there is no evidence that it is more lethal. Read below all about Uk virus.
There is still no reason to show that it responds to vaccination individually.
On Monday, two meetings will occur in Brussels – one involving ministers of health and the other of the EU crisis management committee. But no announcement is planned until the EU ambassadors meet on Tuesday.
A French official told Gavin Lee of the BBC that they were desperate to “as soon as safely possible” reopen the borders, with one possibility being the demand that UK travellers, including lorry drivers, show that they have had a recent negative Covid-19 test.
UK Secretary of Health Matt Hancock said earlier that the latest version was ‘out of reach,’ although Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands announced that they had already detected it.
Since the case was found in Denmark, neighbouring Sweden prevented all international travellers from travelling there.
The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine was also authorized on Monday by the EU Medicines Regulator for use in all 27 Member States.
The vaccine is now being distributed in the United Kingdom and the United States, and, as of 27 December, several European countries are planning to start delivering doses.
How Different Countries Acted?
For 48 hours from midnight (23:00 GMT) on Sunday, France suspended all transport connections, including freight lorries, with the UK. Every day, thousands of lorries pass between countries.
Eurotunnel said it would suspend access for traffic going to Calais at its Folkestone terminal. People booked on Monday to fly will get a refund. From Calais to Folkestone, trains can still run.
Due to the French prohibitions, the ferry terminal at Dover is now closed for all accompanying traffic leaving the UK before further notice. To address the topic on Monday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair a Cobra emergency response conference.
In addition to the latest strain of the virus, other countries have taken various actions:
Both suspended flights from the United Kingdom from Germany, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia
Spain has suspended flights, one of the most popular holiday destinations for UK residents,
Italy barred all UK flights until 6 January, while the Netherlands banned all UK passenger flights until ‘no later’ on 1 January. Ferry passengers in the Netherlands are now prohibited from coming from the UK, while freight can proceed.
- Belgium has suspended UK flights and trains for at least 24 hours from midnight onwards.
- Greece has extended the quarantine time from three days to seven days for travellers from the UK.
- In the Republic of Ireland, at least from midnight on Sunday, flights from Britain are banned for 48 hours, and people have been asked not to “travel to Ireland.
- Turkey, like Norway and Switzerland, has temporarily banned all flights from the UK.
- Canada has suspended all UK passenger flights for 72 hours, starting from midnight onwards (05:00 GMT). Passengers arriving from the UK on Sunday in Canada will be “subject to secondary screening and enhanced measures, including increased scrutiny of quarantine plans,” it added.
- Russia is halting one-week flights from the UK.
- India will suspend flights from the United Kingdom from 23:59 (18:29 GMT) until 31 December on Tuesday.
- Restrictions on UK travel were imposed in Hong Kong, Israel, Iran, Croatia, Morocco, and Kuwait.
- Flights from the UK are banned in Latin America, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Peru.
- Because of the pandemic, Saudi Arabia has suspended all international flights for one week, while Jordan has suspended UK flights for two weeks.