Berlin announced on Sunday that the German federal government is preparing to restrict travel between Germany, the United Kingdom, Germany and South Africa due to a mutation in a new type of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). As a first step, air passenger traffic between Germany and the United Kingdom will be halted.
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn told national public television ARD that German airports will not be able to receive flights from Britain and Northern Ireland as of midnight Sunday. For now, the allowance is valid until December 31. The minister said negotiations on further restrictions and rules in effect from January 1 and measures affecting South Africa will start on Monday.
He highlighted it No infectious virus has been detected in Germany so far.
The decision to stop air passenger traffic is detailed in a decision issued by the Federal Ministry of Transport. The ban applies only to passenger flights, and freight and aircraft returning to the German base can still be picked up by airports.
According to the ARD, the German government, which will hold the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union until the end of the year, is working to ensure that member states respond as uniformly as possible to the rapid spread of the mutated virus. . It is envisaged that the regulation will cover transport between the European Union and the United Kingdom by sea and through the canal tunnel.
According to television, Chancellor Angela Merkel has already consulted the matter over the phone with the President of the European Council and the European Commission, French Prime Minister Charles Michel, Ursula von der Leyen and Emmanuel Macron.
Earlier, the Dutch, Belgian and Austrian governments announced that they would ban accepting passenger planes departing from the United Kingdom. The Netherlands will not accept flights from British soil until at least December 31, and Belgium will impose a 24-hour ban – starting at midnight Sunday – but it has also halted rail traffic on British roads. The start date of the Austrian ban is not yet known.
This was announced by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday The SARS-CoV-2 mutation in London and southeast England could be up to 70 percent more contagious. like before. However, according to experts, there is no study data indicating changes that would make the new coronavirus mutation more likely to cause disease than previous versions, and There is also no indication that the vaccines developed so far will be less effective against the new version of the virus.
The World Health Organization said on Sunday that a mutation also spread to South Africa, which was identified in September.
