Paris
Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis: – New strain ‘out of control’ in UK – Alarm bells ring across Europe as it appears that a new, even more infectious strain of the virus is raging in parts of Britain, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock saying it was “out of control”. More than 16 million Britons living in London and southeast England have to cancel Christmas plans and stay home. Scientists believe the new variant, which has also cropped up in South Africa and Denmark, is 70 percent more transmissible than the main strain.
Flights halted from UK – A host of countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands are to halt air travel from Britain as the EU gets set to decide a bloc-wide policy.
The Netherlands is the first to suspend passenger flights from the UK — through January 1 — and Belgium follows, cutting off air and rail links from midnight Sunday. France’s decision to halt all journeys “related to goods transport by road, air, sea or rail” for 48 hours from midnight Sunday comes as companies are scrambling to shift merchandise across the Channel with days to go until Britain finally quits EU trade structures.
Unaccompanied freight is to be allowed, as well as “flows of people or goods towards the UK”, the government added after a meeting chaired by President Emmanuel Macron. – Vaccines effective against new strain – European Union experts believe existing vaccines against coronavirus are effective against the new fast-spreading strain identified in Britain, Germany’s health minister says.- Tighter controls urged – The World Health Organization calls for Europe to “redouble” measures against coronavirus in the face of the new variant circulating in Britain.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control advises that people linked to the new variant be identified so they can be tested, isolated and their contacts traced. – More than 1.68 million dead – At least 1,685,785 people have died since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.
The United States is the worst-hit country with 316,202 deaths, followed by Brazil with 186,356 fatalities, India with 145,477, Mexico with 117,876 and Italy with 68,447. – Denmark to exhume minks –
Four million minks culled in Denmark over a mutant coronavirus strain will be dug up next year to prevent pollution, the government says in the latest twist to a long-running saga. If parliament agrees, the mink carcasses will be dug up and burned six months from now once the risk of infection is completely passed.—APP
