THE UK has been branded a "disaster" as a mutant strain of the coronavirus causes chaos and 40 countries place bans on British flights.
The new strain, thought to be up to 70 per cent more infectious than the original, was first detected in London earlier this month and has now been identified in at least six other territories around the world.
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The strain's alarming spread prompted Prime Minister Boris Johnson over the weekend to scale back the relaxation of lockdown measures over Christmas for millions across the UK.
Speaking from Downing Street, he said scientists are "learning more about this variant" as they go, but that it was "now spreading very fast".
Tier four restrictions have now been imposed across the southeast, south, and east of England, with a travel ban enforced and residents told not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary.
The news prompted alarm around the world, with dozens of countries imposing a ban on flights from the UK.
France's Le Monde newspaper said the strain "concludes a disaster year for the United Kingdom", while Belgium's HLN paper said that "chaos looms" for the country.
It comes as...
- it emerged the 'supercharged' Covid mutation was first spotted in Brazil EIGHT months ago
- An expert says the UK Covid mutant strain could be the 'tip of the iceberg'
- The US says 'everything is on the table' about a possible UK travel ban
- The France travel ban sparked huge seven-mile queues from the Kent coast
At least 17 countries across Europe - including France, Germany, and Ireland - have imposed bans, as have Canada, India, Russia, Israel, and numerous other countries globally.
The US is yet to follow suit, but speaking today Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir said that "everything [is] on the table".
The ban in Germany left more than 60 Brits stranded and sleeping on camp beds at an airport in Hanover while screening was carried out.
France has also closed its borders to freight lorries from the UK for 48 hours, a move that it is feared could have a "devastating" effect on the supply of food and other goods in Britain.
The French say they are working on a plan to get lorries moving later tonight.
The new strain is confirmed to have spread to at least five other places - Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Gibraltar, and Australia - but officials have said it is likely to already be circulating in elsewhere.
There have been unverified reports of confirmed cases in Belgium.
WHICH COUNTRIES HAVE BANNED FLIGHTS FROM BRITAIN?
The news of the mutant strain of coronavirus spreading in the UK prompted countries around the world to introduce bans on travellers from Britain.
- France suspended all travel links, including flight and freight lorries, for 48 hours from 11pm on Sunday.
- Flights to Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, and Sweden from the UK have been suspended.
- Spain, one of the most popular destinations for Brits heading abroad, has also stopped flights.
- Belgium suspended flights and trains for at least 24 hours.
- Greece lengthened the time for which British arrivals are required to self-isolate from three days to seven.
- Ireland, normally the destination for thousands of people leaving the UK for Christmas, has suspended flights for 48 hours, and has also asked people not to travel by sea.
- A 72-hour ban on all flights from the UK was introduced in Canada, effective from 5am GMT on Monday.
- Russia suspended all flights for a week, while India will stop them from 6.30pm GMT on Tuesday until December 31.
- In South America, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Peru all stopped UK flights.
Scientists have said that the new mutation - dubbed N510Y - was first identified in Brazil more than eight months ago, but is now spreading faster as part of a "constellation of multiple mutations".
Speaking to the Telegraph, Professor Peter Horby, chairman of the government's Nervtag advisory committee, said: "When you put virus mutations together, the combination can have a different effect."
It has also been said that the new strain has only been identified because of the work being done in the UK to trek variations of the virus as it moves through the population.
"Very likely that what we are seeing in Britain is just the tip of the iceberg."
Professor Jacob Moran-Gilad
Speaking to the Jerusalem Post, Prof. Jacob Moran-Gilad a microbiologist at Ben-Gurion University’s School of Public Health, said: “The British are currently the world leaders in their rate of genetic sequencing for COVID-19 patient samples.
"That’s why they’re the ones that find these things."
He added that it's "very likely that what we are seeing in Britain is just the tip of the iceberg".
"There are most likely a lot of mutations we don’t yet know about because most of the world doesn’t consistently survey and track the mutation,” he said.
But scientists have also said there is no reason to think the new strain won't respond to the vaccines now being rolled out, nor necessarily any cause for concern until more is known.
Speaking to the Guardian, Christian Drosten said: “The question is: is this virus being boosted by a coming new wave in the region concerned [south-east England], or is this virus responsible for creating this wave in the first place? That’s an important difference.
“I am open to new scientific insights, and in science there are always surprises, but I am everything but worried in this respect."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiYWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZXN1bi5jby51ay9uZXdzLzEzNTM5MDk5L2JyaXRhaW4tYnJhbmRlZC1kaXNhc3Rlci1tdXRhbnQtY292aWQtc3ByZWFkcy1iYW4tZmxpZ2h0cy_SAWVodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVzdW4uY28udWsvbmV3cy8xMzUzOTA5OS9icml0YWluLWJyYW5kZWQtZGlzYXN0ZXItbXV0YW50LWNvdmlkLXNwcmVhZHMtYmFuLWZsaWdodHMvYW1wLw?oc=5
2020-12-21 16:36:00Z
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