New COVID-19 Strain: Belgium Suspends All Flights From UK
Belgium is suspending flight and train arrivals from Britain from midnight Sunday after the UK detected a COVID-19 variant suspected to be more infectious, a government official said.
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told a Belgian television channel that the ban will be in place for at least 24 hours.
The abrupt decision came a day after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a lockdown for London and parts of southeast England to at least December 30.
Meanwhile, Germany is considering banning flights from Britain and South Africa, a source close to the German health ministry said on Sunday.
A health ministry spokesman said the government in Berlin was monitoring developments in Britain very closely and working at “high pressure” to evaluate the new information and data regarding the new strain.
Italy and Austria have joined the Netherlands and Belgium in banning air travel from the UK due to concerns over the new strain of coronavirus.
The Netherlands was the first country to ban flights after health authorities confirmed at least one case of the same variant that has prompted the UK to tighghten lockdown rules.
Belgium then stopped flights and halted rail connections.
Italy announced their measures shortly after midday on Sunday, but it is not known how long they will be in place for.
The Dutch measures are expected to last until at least the new year.
Austria said it would also halt flights from the UK but there were no immediate details on the timing of the ban, news agency APA reported.
The French news channel BFMTV reported that France too was “seriously” considering suspending flights and trains from the UK , and the government was “looking for European coordination”.
“A decision will be announced during the day,” the channel said.
Czech imposed tighter quarantine measures
@Official Profile of the Czech Ministry of Health
Given the risk associated with a new mutation in the virus, which has been demonstrated in the UK, we are introducing mandatory domestic quarantine from today on all persons who have resided there for at least 24 hours in the last 14 days and are now returning to the Czech Republic.
On days 5-7 after return, a PCR test will be performed and if negative, quarantine will be terminated. Otherwise it will take 10 days. This measure aims to increase the security of citizens.
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