More EU nations ban travel from UK as new COVID-19 strain spreads rapidly

 A growing list of European Union nations and Cana barred travel from U.K. on Sunday and ors were considering similar action, in a bid to block a new strain of coronavirus sweeping across sourn England from spreing to continent.

France, Germany, Italy, Nerlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland and Bulgaria all anunced restrictions on U.K. travel, hours after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson anunced that Christmas shopping and garings in sourn England must be canceled because of rapidly spreing infections blamed on 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 U.K. for 48 hours from midnight Sunday, including trucks carrying freight through tunnel under English Channel or from port of Dover on England’s south coast. French officials said pause would buy time to find a “common doctrine” on how to deal with threat, but it threw busy cross-channel route used by thousands of trucks a day into chaos.

Port of Dover tweeted Sunday night that its ferry terminal was “closed to all accompanied traffic leaving UK until furr tice due to border restrictions in France.”

Eurostar passenger trains from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam were also halted.

Germany said all flights coming from Britain, except cargo flights, were longer allowed to land starting midnight Sunday. It didn’t immediately say how long 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.” “re are a great many questions about this new mutation,” he said, ding he hoped to have more clarity by Tuesday.

Cana anunced its own ban Sunday night. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement that for 72 hours starting at midnight Sunday, “all flights from UK will be prohibited from entering Cana.” He ded that travelers who arrived Sunday would be subject to secondary screening and or health measures. A follow-up statement from government said cargo flights were t included in ban.

Central American nation of El Salvor, meanwhile, said it would refuse entry to anyone who has visited Britain in preceding 30 days.

British government said Johnson would preside at a meeting of government’s crisis committee, COBRA, on Monday in wake of or nations’ measures. y come at a time of huge ecomic uncertainty for U.K., less than two weeks before it leaves EU’s ecomic structures Dec. 31, and with talks on a new post-Brexit tre relationship still delocked.

Johnson said Saturday that a fast-moving new variant of virus that is 70% more transmissible than existing strains appeared to be driving rapid spre of new infections in London and sourn England in recent weeks. But he stressed “re’s evidence to suggest it is more lethal or causes more severe illness,” or that vaccines will be less effective against it.

On Sunday, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock ded to alarm when he said “ new variant is out of control.” U.K. recorded 35,928 furr confirmed cases, around double number from a week ago.

Germany, which holds rotating EU presidency, called a special crisis meeting on Monday to coordinate response to virus news among bloc’s 27 member states.

Nerlands banned flights from U.K. for at least rest of year. Ireland issued a 48-hour flight ban. Italy said it would block flights from U.K. until Jan.6, and an order signed Sunday prohibits entry into Italy by anyone who has been in U.K. in last 14 days.

Czech Republic imposed stricter quarantine measures from people arriving from Britain.

Beyond Europe, Israel also said it was banning flights from Britain, Denmark and South Africa because those were countries where mutation is found.

World Health Organization tweeted late Saturday that it was “in close contact with U.K. officials on new #COVID19 virus variant” and promised to update governments and public as more is learned.

new strain was identified in souastern England in September and has been spreing in area ever since, a WHO official told BBC on Sunday.

“What we understand is that it does have increased transmissibility, in terms of its ability to spre,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical le on COVID-19.

Studies are under way to better understand how fast it spres and wher “it’s related to variant itself, or a combination of factors with behavior,” she ded.

She said strain h also been identified in Denmark, Nerlands and Australia, where re was one case that didn’t spre furr.

“ longer this virus spres, more opportunities it has to change,” she said. “So we really need to do everything we can right w to prevent spre.”

Viruses mutate regularly, and scientists have found thousands of different mutations among samples of virus causing COVID-19. Many of se changes have effect on how easily virus spres or how severe symptoms are.

British health authorities said that while variant has been circulating since September, it wasn’t until last week that officials felt y h eugh evidence to declare that it has higher transmissibility than or circulating coronaviruses.

Patrick Vallance, British government’s chief scientific viser, said officials are concerned about new variant because it contained 23 different changes, “an unusually large number of variants” affecting how virus binds to and enters cells in body.

Officials aren’t certain wher it originated in U.K., Vallance ded. But by December, he said it was causing over 60% of infections in London.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s minee for U.S. surgeon general said Sunday that emergence of new strain doesn’t change public health guidance on precautions for reducing spre of virus, such as wearing masks, social distancing and washing hands.

“While it seems to be more easily transmissible, we do t have evidence yet that this is a more dely virus to an individual who acquires it,” Vivek Murthy said on NBC’s “Meet Press.” “re’s reason to believe that vaccines that have been developed will t be effective against this virus, as well.”

Europe has been walloped this fall by soaring new infections and deaths due to a resurgence of virus, and many nations have reimposed a series of restrictions to reign in ir outbreaks.

Britain has seen over 67,000 deaths in pandemic, 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 that experts believe is an undercount, due to limited testing and missed cases.

European Medicines ncy, meanwhile, is meeting Monday to approve first COVID-19 vaccine for European Union’s 27 nations, bringing vaccinations closer for millions of EU citizens. vaccine me by German pharmaceutical company BioNTech and American drugmaker Pfizer is alrey in use in United States, Britain, Cana and or countries.

EMA moved up its assessment of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by a week after heavy pressure from EU governments, especially Germany, which has said that after EMA approval it could start vaccinating citizens as early as next Sunday.

In an urgent dress to nation on Saturday, Johnson ordered all n-essential shops, hairdressers and gyms in London and large parts of sourn England closed and told Britons to reorganize ir holiday plans. mixing of households is allowed indoors in region, and only essential travel is permitted. In rest of England, people will be allowed to meet in Christmas bubbles for just one day inste of five that were planned.

After he spoke, videos emerged online showing crowds of people at London’s train stations, apparently making a dash for places in U.K. with less stringent coronavirus restrictions. Health Secretary Matt Hancock called those scenes “totally irresponsible.”

While Hancock insisted officials h acted “very quickly and decisively,” critics said Britain’s Conservative government should have moved against rising infections much earlier.

“ alarms bells have been ringing for weeks, but prime minister chose to igre m,” said Keir Starmer, leer of opposition Labour Party. “It is an act of gross negligence by a prime minister who, once again, has been caught behind curve.”

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