Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands have tackled the detection of a strain of Covid-19 that is rapidly spreading in England by announcing a ban on flights carrying passengers from the UK, with similar plans being considered by France and Germany.
The moves came as millions of people in London and the south-east began their first full day of new lockouts and UK health secretary Matt Hancock said the new strain of the virus was “out of control. ”.
Belgium stops flying and Eurostar arrives in Britain from midnight local Sunday. The Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, told the Belgian television channel VRT that the ban would be in place for at least 24 hours.
Italian foreign minister Luigi Di Maio said the government had decided to take action after the UK “raised the warning about a new strain of Covid due to a mutation of the virus”.
He said: “As a government we have a responsibility to protect Italians and for this reason, following warnings to the British government, the health ministry will sign up to prepare for the cancellation of flights by the UK. Our priority is to protect Italy and our allies. “
Di Maio did not provide further details, but this is not expected to have an immediate effect on flights arriving in Italy from the UK on Sunday.
The Dutch ban, which came into effect from 6am local time on Sunday, lasts until 1 January.
Germany is considering banning flights from the UK and South Africa, where the opposite has been found, a health ministry source there told Agence France-Presse.
A senior German government official told the DPA news agency that restricting flights from Britain was a “real option”.
France is also considering canceling flights and trains Britain after the new strain was discovered, BFM Television reported.
The Spanish government said it had called on the European Commission and the European Council to provide a “joint, coordinated response” to the situation, but said it would “protect the interests and rights of its citizens. Spain ”if there was one it was not to come.
The European Commission did not immediately respond to AFP’s question as to whether a ban on UK travelers would be proposed for all EU countries.
If it continues into January, the travel unrest could cause transport problems with Brexit as Britain leaves the EU single market, which promises to move within its borders.
The emergency restrictions announced by the UK government came after Public Health England said it had identified more than 1,100 cases of a new mutation of coronavirus that could accelerate the spread of the virus – particularly in the south-east of England.
“As a result of the rapid new release, initial modeling data and rapidly rising frequency levels in the South East, the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Risk Advisory Group (Nervtag) now believes that the new strain spread faster, “government chief medical officer Chris Whitty said Saturday.
“We have issued a warning to the World Health Organization and continue to analyze the available data to advance our understanding.”
AFP and the Associated Press contributed to this report