LONDON: More countries banned travel from the UK and the World Health Organization (WHO) called for stronger containment measures because the British government warned {that a} extremely infectious new strain of the virus was “uncontrolled”.
Because the WHO urged its European members to beef up measures towards a new variant of COVID-19 circulating in Britain, France blocked people and items crossing the Channel whereas Germany, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Romania, The Netherlands, and Belgium stated they have been moving to block air travel.
A German government supply stated the restriction could be adopted by the entire 27-member European Union and that nations have been also discussing a joint response over sea, road and rail links with Britain.
Regardless of rising issues about the new strain, European Union experts imagine it won’t impact the effectiveness of existing vaccines, Germany’s health minister stated.
“According to everything we all know so far” the new pressure “has no impact on the vaccines”, which stay “just as efficient”, Jens Spahn told public broadcaster ZDF, citing “talks between experts at European authorities”.
France’s ban on all however unaccompanied freight arriving from Britain is very painful, as companies are scrambling to shift merchandise with days to go till Britain finally quits EU trade structures within the wake of Brexit.
However “flows of individuals or items towards the UK won’t be affected”, Paris stated in a press release.
Rome and Berlin stated on Sunday they might both be suspending flights to and from Britain from midnight. Dublin stated it might droop air links with Britain for “at least” 48 hours.
The Netherlands imposed a ban on UK flights from 6am (0500 GMT) on Sunday and Belgium stated it might comply with suit from midnight with a ban on planes and trains from the UK.
Different nations that have halted flights to the UK include Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.
Alarm bells have been ringing throughout Europe – which final week became the primary region on the earth to pass 500,000 deaths from COVID-19 for the reason that pandemic broke out a yr in the past – after it appeared {that a} new, much more infectious strain of the virus was raging in parts of Britain.
Austria’s health ministry informed the APA news agency that it might also impose a flight ban, the main points of which have been still being worked out.
A spokeswoman for WHO Europe informed AFP that “throughout Europe, the place transmission is intense and widespread, nations must redouble their control and prevention approaches”.
Romania also stated it had banned all flights to and from the UK for 2 weeks beginning Monday afternoon.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel held a conference call on Sunday in regards to the matter, Macron’s office stated.
UK U-TURN
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated the infectiousness of the new pressure had compelled his hand into imposing a lockdown across much of England over the Christmas period.
“Sadly the new pressure was uncontrolled. We’ve got obtained to get it under control,” UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News after Johnson U-turned on his previously acknowledged policy of easing containment measures over the festive season.
Scientists first found the new variant – which they imagine is 70 percent more transmissible – in a patient in September. Public Health England notified the government on Friday when modeling revealed the full seriousness of the new pressure.
However Britain’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty identified that whereas the new pressure was greatly extra infectious, “there isn’t a current proof to suggest (it) causes a better mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments, though urgent work is under solution to verify this”.
The novel coronavirus has killed at least 1,685,785 people for the reason that outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT on Sunday.
And with the onset of colder winter climate within the northern hemisphere the place respiratory diseases flourish, nations are bracing for new waves of COVID-19 with tighter restrictions, regardless of the economic damage such lockdowns wrought earlier this yr.
The Netherlands is under a five-week lockdown till mid-January with schools and all non-essential shops closed to slow a surge within the virus.
Italy also introduced a new regime of restrictions till Jan 6 that included limits on people leaving their houses more than as soon as a day, closing non-essential shops, bars and restaurants and curbs on regional travel.
In Russia, health authorities stated that the quantity of people who have died from the coronavirus has surpassed the 50,000 mark and now stands at 50,858.
VACCINATION ROLLOUT
The fast rollout of vaccinations is now seen as the one efficient way to finish the crisis and the economically devastating shutdowns used to halt its spread.
Europe is expected to begin a massive vaccination campaign after Christmas following america and Britain, which have begun giving jabs with an permitted Pfizer-BioNTech shot, one of several main candidates.
Russia and China have also began giving out jabs with their own domestically produced vaccines.
America on Friday authorized Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the first nation to authorize the two-dose regimen from Moderna – now the second vaccine to be deployed in a Western country after the one developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
The Wall Street Journal reported that US lawmakers had agreed on pandemic spending powers for the Federal Reserve late on Saturday, clearing the best way for a vote on a roughly US$900 billion COVID-19 relief bundle for millions of Individuals.
