Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Dutch ban UK flights, fearing the new coronavirus variant

The Netherlands is banning flights from the United Kingdom at least for the rest of the year in an attempt to make sure that a new strain of the COVID-19 virus in Britain does not reach its shores

Via AP news wire
Sunday 20 December 2020 08:47 GMT
Netherlands Virus Outbreak
Netherlands Virus Outbreak (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

The Netherlands is banning flights from the U.K. for at least the rest of the year in an attempt to make sure that a new strain of coronavirus that is sweeping across southern England does not reach its shores.

The ban came into effect Sunday morning and the government said it was reacting to tougher measures imposed in London and surrounding areas on Saturday by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson The Netherlands said it will assess “with other European Union nations the possibilities to contain the import of the virus from the United Kingdom."

Johnson said a fast-moving new variant of the virus that is 70% more transmissible than existing strains appears to be driving the rapid spread of new infections in London and southern England.

“There’s no evidence to suggest it is more lethal or causes more severe illness,” the prime minister stressed, or that vaccines will be less effective against it.

The Dutch government is already strongly advising its citizens not to travel unless absolutely necessary.

There was no immediate word on what the Dutch government intended to do about the ferries that travel between the U.K. and the Netherlands.

Britain has alerted the World Health Organization that the new variant identified this week appears to be accelerating the spread of COVID-19, saying it accounted for some 60% of the capital's cases.

Viruses mutate regularly, and scientists have found thousands different of mutations among samples of the virus causing COVID-19. But many of these changes have no effect on how easily the virus spreads or how severe symptoms are.

Britain has seen over 67,000 deaths in the pandemic, the second-highest confirmed toll in Europe after Italy. The Netherlands has recorded over 10,500 virus-related deaths.

___

Follow AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in