Johnson heading an emergency meeting to face developments in the travel and freight movement after European countries restrict travel to and from the UK due to the new Coronavirus strain

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said, that Johnson is headed an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss international travel, especially freight, to and from Britain.

“The prime minister led an emergency meeting to discuss the situation with regard to international travel, especially the regular flow of freight to and from the UK,” the spokeswoman added. 

Other meetings will be held this week to ensure that there are strong plans to face the situation.

The British Health Minister, Matt Hancock, said on Sunday, that the new strain of the Coronavirus that causes the new “Covid 19” disease is out of control.

“This new strain of the emerging corona virus has already spiraled out of control,” the British minister continued in his statements.

He continued by saying, “It is currently difficult to control this new strain of Coronavirus, before the vaccines are distributed on a large scale”.

“We want to put an end to the outbreak of the new coronavirus strain, by implementing strict social distancing measures,” Hancock said.

He added, “Our plan ends to vaccinate a million people with Coronavirus vaccines within days, but it was necessary to issue a decision to impose quarantine in London and the southeast of England”.

It is noteworthy that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson summoned senior ministers on Friday evening to discuss ways to contain a new strain of Coronavirus, described as the easiest ability to spread.

It is expected that the British government will issue an approval to use the “Covid 19” vaccine, which was developed by “AstraZenka” and the University of Oxford, on 28 or 29 December, to accelerate the vaccination campaign.

Johnson said the new virus mutation identified in Britain is 70% more contagious than the original version.

At the same time, the British Prime Minister indicated that there is no data so far indicating that the new mutation of the Coronavirus causes more severe forms of the disease or has a higher death rate.

The chief doctor in England, Professor Chris Whitty, confirmed, on Saturday, that the new Coronavirus mutation is spreading “amazingly quickly” and requires citizens to take more precautions.

Regarding the current situation, Johnson announced new restrictions in London and areas in southeast England, which he said basically meant a lockdown.

After England, the Scottish and Wales authorities also announced stricter measures.

In turn, the World Health Organization confirmed on Sunday, that the new strain of Coronavirus that was recently discovered in Britain has spread to three other countries.

Maria Van Kerkhove, an American expert specializing in infectious emergency diseases within the health emergency program and the technical city to confront the Coronavirus pandemic at the United Nations organization, said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation “BBC”, that those countries are Denmark and the Netherlands as well as Australia, where they have registered One case of infection with the new strain.

The official warned that the new strain has an increasing ability to spread, confirming that studies are underway to reveal the extent of this ability.

And she stressed the need to make every effort to prevent the spread of the new strain, explaining that the larger the outbreak of the virus, the greater the risk of new mutations emerging from it.

Van Kerkhove expressed the World Health Organization’s concern about the emergence of new chains of Coronavirus, stressing that the organization’s experts are continuing to study the new strain with the aim of increasing their knowledge about the ability of the epidemic to change.

On Sunday, Britain’s neighbors in Europe began to close their borders to those coming from the United Kingdom, amid fears of the rapid spread of a new strain of Coronavirus there.

France said it will ban entry to all arrivals from the United Kingdom for 48 hours from tonight, including shipping companies, whether by land, air, sea or rail.

Germany, Italy and the Netherlands issued orders to suspend flights from Britain, while Ireland said it would impose restrictions on flights and ferries from its neighbor.

Belgium said it would close its borders to trains and planes from the United Kingdom, including the Eurostar service.

Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said, “The Covid strain that was discovered recently in London is of concern and will require a study by our scientists”.

“In the meantime, we will take our utmost vigilance,” he added.

The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Saturday, that the new virus strain had led to a sharp rise in the number of infected people. 

The British government tightened restrictions on Covid-19 in London and surrounding areas and disrupted plans for the Christmas holidays.

The travel restrictions will exacerbate the problems of the United Kingdom, which will permanently leave the European Union on December 31 after a transitional period this year. 

London and Brussels have yet to reach a post-Brexit trade agreement, increasing the potential for chaos in the movement of goods.

The German government said that all flights from the United Kingdom will be suspended from midnight tonight.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn told public broadcaster ARD television: “(The mutation of the virus) has not been discovered in Germany yet… But of course we take the reports from Britain very seriously”.

VRT television quoted Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croe as saying that the ban imposed on flights from Britain includes Eurostar services through the Channel Tunnel and will be in effect for at least 24 hours from midnight.

The Italian order banned any flights from Britain and banned anyone who passed through British territory during the past 14 days from entering Italy.

The Dutch government said it had banned flights carrying passengers from the United Kingdom from Sunday, and the restrictions would remain in effect until January 1.

The Austrian news agency APA quoted the Health Ministry as saying that Austria also intends to ban flights from Britain.

Sweden said it was preparing to take a decision to ban entry to people from the United Kingdom.

Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have also announced plans to ban flights from the United Kingdom.

On Sunday, the Italian Ministry of Health said that a patient had been detected with the new strain of Coronavirus that appeared in Britain.

The ministry added that the injured person had returned from Britain during the past few days on a flight that landed at Fiumicino airport in the capital, Rome, and is now subject to isolation.

The Iranian official news agency said that the Islamic Republic suspended on Sunday, sending flights to Britain for two weeks, due to the emergence of a new strain of Coronavirus.

“Due to the new circumstances related to the spread of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom, flights between Tehran and destinations in the United Kingdom will be suspended for two weeks,” the agency quoted Shahram Adam Ahmadinejad, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Transport, as saying.