Netherlands bans flights from Britain due to coronavirus risk

The Netherlands early Sunday banned flights arriving from Britain after the discovery of a new coronavirus variant.

The ban is effective immediately and is set to continue until January 1, according to a government statement.

Schipol, Amsterdam’s main airport and a major European hub, said on its website on Sunday that flights to and from London had been affected.

The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) had recommended limiting the introduction of this strain of the virus from Britain as much as possible by restricting or controlling travel movements, which led the Cabinet to suspend air travel.

A virus with the variant described in Britain had already been identified in a random sample in the Netherlands in early December, it added.

The case was to be investigated further to determine who was affected, how the infection occurred and whether related cases were known.

Britain on Saturday announced a new lockdown for London and parts of south and eastern England starting Sunday due to concerns about the rapid spread of the new variant.

The recently discovered variant is up to 70 per cent more contagious than the previously known form, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday. But he said there was no evidence that vaccines against the mutation were less effective.

Source: GNA