There has been growing concern as the United Kingdom battles a new strain of COVID-1 9Over the last few weeks.
“The new variant transmits more easily than the previous one but there is no evidence that it is more likely to cause severe disease or mortality,” the UK government wrote on its website at the beginning of this week.
There are now hundreds of thousands of victims of this new coronavirus strain in many areas and the health system is overwhelmed. Because of this, up to 40 countries have announced flight closings and travel bans to and from the UK.
Here Are Some Of Countries That Have Banned Travel So Far:
– France –
France has halted all travel from UK for 48 hours. No transporting goods by road, neither by air, sea or rail.
Paris and London are in talks over testing at ports to reopen the border, British Home Secretary Priti Patel said.
– Germany –
Germany is extending a ban on all arrivals from the UK and South Africa until January 6.
– Spain and Portugal –
Spain and Portugal are suspending flights, with Madrid only allowing its nationals or residents to enter from Britain.
– India –
As concern mounted over a new strain of the novel coronavirus in the United Kingdom, India on Monday announced it was suspending flights from and to that country until the end of the year.
The suspension will come into effect on Wednesday — after 11.59 pm on Tuesday (December 22) — and will be in place until 11.59 pm on December 31.
Its financial capital Mumbai is being put under curfew over fears of the British strain.
– Poland –
The country, which has a large diaspora population in Britain, also said that flights from the UK were being banned from midnight.
The former British colony is banning all flights arriving from the United Kingdom from midnight, and the quarantine of passengers who arrived from Britain in the last fortnight is being extended.
All international arrivals must already spend 14 days in isolation in a hotel.
– Hong Kong –
Hong Kong will ban all flights arriving from the United Kingdom from midnight local time on Monday, becoming the first city in Asia to announce such a halt.
– Netherlands –
Passenger flights from Britain have been banned until January 1. One case of the new strain has been found in the country.
– Ireland –
Flights from UK from Monday have been banned for at least 48 hours.
Dublin said in a statement that all flights arriving from Britain from midnight Sunday would be banned for at least 48 hours.
– Italy –
Italy has blocked flights from Britain and prohibited entry of people who have stayed there during the last 14 days.
– Russia –
Russian state-affiliated media on Monday said the country would be suspending flights to and from the UK for a week.
Canada –
Canada has banned most passenger travel from the UK beginning at midnight on Sunday for at least 72 hours.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed the news in a tweet which said it was being done for the protection of Canadians.
United States –
United States Assistant Health Secretary Brett Giroir said that it was possible the US would also ban travel from the UK, but added nothing had been decided yet.
“I think everything is possible. We just need to put everything on the table, have an open scientific discussion and make the best recommendation,” he said.
According to the US embassy, US citizens in the UK who need to return home may be permitted to travel.
– Rest of Europe –
Finland and Austria are suspending flights for two weeks and Switzerland until further notice, with travellers who have arrived from Britain or South Africa ordered into quarantine.
Baltic nations Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as well as Hungary and Luxembourg have also halted flights, while in the Balkans, Croatia, Macedonia and Albania followed suit with Bulgaria and suspended them until January 31.
Romania has banned all flights to and from the UK for two weeks, as has the Czech Republic.
Norway, Sweden and Denmark suspended flights for 48 hours.
Denmark has detected nine cases of the new strain on its soil.
Chile
Chile is suspending flights from the UK from Tuesday.
The government said anyone without a Chilean residence permit who had been in Britain in the past two weeks would be barred from entry into the country.
Morocco
Morocco banned all flights to the UK from Sunday.
Jordan
Officials announced that the country has suspended flights to and from the United Kingdom from Monday until January 3 due to a new strain of the coronavirus detected in Britain.
Sweden
Sweden will stop allowing in foreign travellers from Britain and Denmark in a bid to curb the rapid spread of a new strain of the coronavirus, the government said on Monday.
“To minimize the risk of it spreading here, the government has today decided on a ban of entry,” Minister for the Interior Mikael Damberg told a news conference, adding that Swedish citizens were exempt from the ban.
Denmark’s infectious disease authority said last week it had found nine cases of coronavirus infections involving the new strain from Nov 14. to December 3. It said it was monitoring the new strain closely.
Finland
Passenger flights from the UK will not be allowed to land in Finland for two weeks starting at midday on Monday, transport licensing agency Traficom announced late on Sunday.
Switzerland
Switzerland said it was suspending flights from Britain and South Africa, where a similar virus variant has been detected, from midnight Sunday “until further notice”. It has also ordered retroactive quarantine for all arrivals from the countries since December 14.
Iran: Iransuspended all flights from the UK for two weeks.
Israel: Israel said it was barring entry to foreign citizens travelling from the UK, Denmark and South Africa.
Kuwait: Kuwait added the UK to a list of “high-risk” nations and banned flights.
Morocco: Morocco banned all flights to the UK beginning on Sunday.
Sudan: Sudan said it will ban travellers from the UK, the Netherlands and South Africa from Wednesday.
Turkey: Turkey suspended flights from the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands and South Africa.
Australian stopovers like Thailand (Bangkok), UAE (Dubai) and Qatar remain unaffected for now.
But all flights, including transit, between the UK and Singapore from December 23 have been cancelled.
More than 40 countries have suspended travel from the UK to try to contain a rapidly spreading new strain of the coronavirus.
Scotland had already closed its border with the rest of the UK.
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