France announced on Sunday that it has introduced a 48-hour travel ban to Britain and is joining a growing number of European countries that are halting travel to Britain after a new form of the coronavirus was discovered in that country. At least six European countries have announced that flights will stop if they haven’t already, while France and Belgium have banned travel by train.
French officials said the 48-hour hiatus would give them time to find a ‘common doctrine’ to help spread the new COVID-19 variant. French president Emmanuel Macron Tested positive for the corona virus on Thursday.
Germany, which holds the EU presidency, convened a special crisis meeting on Monday to coordinate a response.
Top health officials in Britain say a new, rapidly changing variant of the coronavirus could be up to 70% more transmissible than previous ones. This strain seems to be driving its rapid spread in London and southern England. But there is no evidence that the new strain is more deadly or would respond differently to the vaccine, according to BBC News.
TOBY MELVILLE / REUTERS
As a result of the new species, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made one on Saturday new level of coronavirus restrictions, the toughest yet, and canceled the scheduled five-day Christmas relaxation period scheduled for December 23-27.
“I know how much emotion people invest at this time of year, and how important it is for grandparents to see their grandchildren,” Johnson said Saturday. “But if the virus changes its attack method, we have to change our defense method.”
Johnson also said the capital and other areas of southern England currently under Tier 3 – the highest level of coronavirus restrictions – will move to an even tougher new Tier 4 that will require all non-essential shops, hairdressers and indoor leisure locations to be moved after the end close. from office hours Saturday.
Videos went viral on Saturday night of Britons packing London train stations at the last minute to leave the city for Christmas. According to Sky News, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock described the rush to travel as “totally irresponsible behavior”.
US surgeon general Jerome Adams said on “Face the nationOn Sunday that the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization are investigating the new species. But he stressed that, even if it turns out to be more contagious, it disassociates the importance of following existing social guidelines.
“Well, very important for people to know that viruses are constantly mutating, and that doesn’t mean this virus is any more dangerous,” said Adams. “We don’t even know if it’s really more contagious or not, or if it just happened to be a species involved in a superspreader event. At this point, we have no evidence that it will harm our ability to continue vaccinating. or that it is more dangerous or deadly than the species that are currently out there that we are aware of. “
The Associated Press contributed to this report.