Over the weekend, the United Kingdom reversed plans to loosen restrictions over Christmas and announced strict lockdowns across much of the country, citing concerns about a variant of the coronavirus believed to be much more infectious.
Alarm over the new variant, which was first identified in the southeast of England, has resulted in British travelers being cut off from much of Europe and other parts of the world as countries imposed restrictions on travel from the UK.
While the new variant of Covid-19 is believed to originate in England, it has also been identified in Denmark, the Netherlands and in Australia, World Health Organization Covid-19 technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove said on Sunday. Researchers are investigating a similar variant of the virus in South Africa, prompting additional travel restrictions from there.
Remember: No evidence the new variants are any more virulent, meaning they do not cause more severe disease. They do not appear to affect the effects of treatments or the protection offered by vaccines
Here’s a list of countries that have banned travel from the UK so far:
- Russia: Russia is suspending flights to and from the UK for a week starting midnight, Moscow time on Dec. 22, state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported citing Russian coronavirus response headquarters.
- Jordan: The government has decided to suspend all direct and indirect (transit) passenger flights from the United Kingdom starting Monday and lasting through Jan. 3. The news was announced in a statement from Jordanian Government spokesperson and Minister of State for Media Affairs Ali Al-Ayed
- Oman: Oman will shut down its air, sea and land borders starting Tuesday Dec. 22, for a period of one week to monitor the new variant of coronavirus reported by the United Kingdom, Oman state news agency reported.
- Argentina: According to a joint statement published Sunday by the Argentinian Health and Interior Ministries, Argentina will only allow one more flight from Britain to land at the international airport in Buenos Aires on Monday morning. Later flights have been canceled.
- Belgium: Belgium will block travelers from the United Kingdom on Monday because of the coronavirus variant that has emerged there, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Sunday morning.
- Bulgaria: Prime Minister Boyko Borissov convened a working meeting on Sunday with members of his Cabinet in response to the new variant, during which it was decided to temporarily suspend air travel between Bulgaria and the United Kingdom starting Monday until Jan. 31, his office said.
- Canada: Canada says it will ban most passenger travel from the UK beginning midnight Sunday for at least 72 hours. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed the news in a tweet…
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