After the British government declared last week that it was discovering a more infectious strain of coronavirus in the southern parts of England, several countries placed travel restrictions on the UK.
Belgium, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Switzerland have postponed all modes of travel to and from the United Kingdom.
In addition, over concerns about the transmission of the new strain, a number of countries around the world have also publicized that they would avoid traveling to and from the UK.
Read more: Europe first region to pass 500,000 coronavirus deaths
So far, travel to and from the UK has been suspended in Saudi Arabia, Canada, India, South Africa, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia.
Pakistan joins global ban on UK travel
Pakistan on Monday also joined a slew of countries who have closed their borders to United Kingdom over fears of a highly infectious new coronavirus strain.
In an emergency meeting, the European Council of the European Union will further deliberate on concerted action concerning the UK.
In London and Southern England, where the latest transformed strain of coronavirus continues to spread at an unprecedented pace, Prime Minister Boris Johnson implemented a new tier-four degree of restriction last week.
Matt Hancock, Secretary of Health, said the spread of the latest and more infectious form of Coronavirus is out of reach. He added that transmission of the new variant must be contained by the UK government as it is 70 percent more contagious than the initial strain of Coronavirus.
New variant
The World Health Organisation tweeted late on Saturday that it was “in close contact with UK officials on the new #COVID19 virus variant” and promised to update governments and the public as more is learned.
In the meantime, we continue to advise people to take all protective measures to prevent the spread of the #COVID19 virus and comply with national authorities' guidance. https://t.co/CTdAEJ8Pqn
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) December 19, 2020
Despite enforcing solid lockdown restrictions on 14 December, still UK is registering more than 36,000 cases per day. Over 2 million cases and 67,000+ deaths from COVID-19 have been confirmed by the UK so far.
