Britain closes its borders to travelers from six African countries. This is due to a new type of coronavirus that has been identified in South Africa. According to experts, it is the most dangerous that has been discovered so far and may be resistant to vaccines.
British Health Minister Sajid Javid announced Thursday night that from midday Friday, six African countries – South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini – will return to the travel red list.
This means that all flights from these countries will be suspended. Only citizens and residents of Great Britain and Ireland will be able to enter the UK from them, but upon arrival they will have to undergo a paid hotel quarantine.
Only 59 cases have been confirmed worldwide so far New variant B.1.1.529 Mainly in South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong. No cases have been detected in the UK so far, but the government has advised all those who have returned from one of these six countries in the past 10 days to get tested for the coronavirus.
New variant – what is already known?
Sajid Javid said scientists were “extremely concerned” about the new alternative. However, more must be learned on this topic.
It is now known that it has a large number of mutations. “Maybe twice as many mutations as we saw in the delta variant” The British minister noted.
This, he added, suggests that it may be easier to catch and that current vaccines may be less effective for him.
WHO experts will meet on Friday to assess the variable that has been classified as a surveillance variable on Wednesday. If it is upgraded to an annoying variant, it may get a name from the Greek alphabet.
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