Dozens of countries have banned travel from the UK after new variant of Covid raises alarm bells.
Things have gone for bad to worse, and worse to catastrophic for the UK over the last few days. A new variant of Covid-19 is causing a drastic rise in infections, particularly in London and south-east England, hence the transition from Tier 3 to Tier 4 restrictions. As a result, a growing number of countries all over the world are suspending flights and ferries carrying passengers from the UK for the foreseeable future. We can’t catch a break (or a flight by the looks of things).
SEE ALSO: Covid-19 Self-Isolation Period To Be Reduced From 14 To 10 Days Across The UK
The travel bans come as the latest figures reveal that Coronavirus cases in the UK rose by 35,928 on December 20 – which is nearly double the number recorded a week prior. There is no evidence that this infectious mutation is more deadly however, health experts warn that it may be up to 70% more transmissible. According to the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, southern England may have to remain under Tier 4 regulations “for the next couple of months” while the vaccine is rolled out.
The Netherlands was the first country to announce a suspension of flights from the UK on December 20. They were shortly followed by France who banned all flights, lorries, ferries and cross-Channel freight transport entering from Britain for 48 hours. France has since established a new testing regime and have reopened their borders to the UK for essential travel only. Several other countries around the world have since jumped on the bandwagon and are now also prohibiting travel from the UK.
Here are the European countries currently banning UK arrivals:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- Germany
- Gibraltar
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxemburg
- Malta
- Moldova
- Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- Slovakia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Turkey
Here are the states outside Europe that are also prohibiting travel from the UK:
- Argentina
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Dominican Republic
- El Salvador
- Hong Kong
- Grenada
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Morocco
- Mauritius
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Panama
- Peru
- Philippines
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- Sudan
- Sri Lanka
- Thailand
- Tunisia
- Uzbekistan
On the bright side, it’s not like we can travel under the Tier 4 restrictions anyway!