France has sealed its border to trucks from the UK after the detection of a more contagious strain of coronavirus in England.
According to The Associated Press, French officials have banned truck traffic from the country for the next 48 hours while the new tribe is under review.
The AP noted that trucks are used to transport Britain’s most perishable goods to France, adding that the carriage of goods through the English Channel is not affected by the ban. Trucking makes up about a fifth of UK trade, with some 10,000 trucks passing the port of Dover every day.
British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the shutdown will not affect the day-to-day lives of UK residents “for the most part”.
His French counterpart, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, said the measure was temporary and tweeted that “in the next few hours, at European level, we will establish a solid health protocol so that the flow from the UK can resume”.
In the coming hours, we will set up a solid health protocol at European level so that flows from the UK can be resumed. Our priority: to protect our nationals and fellow citizens.
– Jean-Baptiste Djebbari (@Djebbari_JB) December 21, 2020
French President Emanuel Macron, who is recovering from the virus, said on Monday officials in his country are considering whether to test everyone from the UK
Several other countries, including Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, India and Canada, have discontinued all flights from the UK, while New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo
Andrew CuomoBirx traveled over Thanksgiving weekend after warning Americans to limit celebrations to households. NYC advance bill to protect fast food workers from dismissal for no valid reason. The deal includes smaller incentive checks, support for unemployment benefits | Biden, Powell praises the progress towards MORE agreement (D) condemned the Trump administration for not taking a similar move in the US
“It is high time for the federal government to act quickly, because today that variant gets on a plane and lands in JFK, and only one person is needed,” said Cuomo.
Public health officials have said that while the strain is more contagious, it does not appear to be more deadly than the previously identified strain and that the newly approved vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer are likely to prevent it.