UPDATE 3 – Sweden will impose travel restrictions on passengers from Britain after the spread of a new virus strain, Swedish public Broadcaster SVT said on Sunday.
“We are preparing a decision to ban entry from the UK. It should come into effect as soon as possible Mikael Damberg, Minister for Home Affairs told SVT.
The formal decision is scheduled to be taken on Monday.
The decision follows a series of similar steps taken by other European countries earlier on Sunday.
UPDATE 2 – Bulgaria will suspend flights from and to the United Kingdom from midnight until Jan. 31 to prevent importing a new strain of the coronavirus, the government said on Sunday.
Initially Bulgarian health ministry decided to impose a 10-day obligatory quarantine to all people arriving from the United Kingdom, but following a meeting, the government opted to temporarily suspend flights.
Ireland will impose restrictions on flights and ferries from Britain from midnight in response to a new strain of the coronavirus detected there, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said on Sunday.
“General travel between here and Britain is going to be restricted, and we will review it on Tuesday morning,” the minister told Virgin Media News. There is an exception for goods traffic and essential supply chain workers.
UPDATE 1 – Germany plans to impose restrictions on flights from and to Britain and South Africa after the two countries reported identifying a new coronavirus strain, a government spokesman said on Sunday.
He said that the government was working on new travel rules and was in contact with European Union partners.
Spain said that in response to the moves by some of its European Union partners, it had asked the European Commission and the European Council for a coordinated response from the bloc to the new situation.
Otherwise it would act unilaterally to defend its interests and citizens, the Madrid government said.
France announced that a meeting between the governments in Paris, Berlin and the European Union is expected to take place today on the new coronavirus variant which is spreading in the UK.
The news agency ANSA confirmed that the Elysée announced the news.
A new mutation in the Covid-19 virus has been uncovered, prompting fears of a faster spread in London and the south east of England. While experts have said it’s too early to tell what the potential impacts of this new strain will be, there are some things we do know. This is not likely to become ‘Covid-20’ and Health Secretary Matt Hancock has stressed there is no evidence to suggest the new strain is more likely to cause serious disease.
The World Health Organization said on Saturday it was in close contact with UK officials over a new COVID-19 virus variant.
“They’ll (UK officials) continue to share info & results of their analysis & ongoing studies. We’ll update Member States & public as we learn more about the characteristics of this virus variant & any implications”, WHO said in a tweet.
Various countries has taken the decision to suspend travelling connections with the UK.
