Britain said on Thursday it would ban arrivals from Latin American countries and Portugal for fear of a coronavirus variant discovered in Brazil.
Over the past few weeks, British authorities have already struggled to infect the spread of another coronavirus variant discovered in Britain and more contagious than its predecessors.
At least two coronavirus variants are currently circulating in Brazil, and at least one has slipped its borders and traveled to Japan.
Japanese authorities found one of these variants in four people traveling from Brazil earlier this week. The variant contains a mutation linked to higher infectivity, similar to the variant found in Britain and another in South Africa.
Like the variant found in South Africa, the one exported from Brazil to Japan also carries a mutation that can impair the effectiveness of vaccines. The same mutation has also been identified in the other coronavirus variant recently discovered in Brazil.
However, experts warn that for new variants of the coronavirus it will be very difficult to evade vaccines completely.
The UK ban comes into effect on Friday at 4 p.m., Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on Twitter. “Travel from Portugal to the UK will also be suspended due to its strong travel links with Brazil,” Shapps added, although truck drivers transporting essential goods from Portugal will be released.
Britain has already banned flights from South Africa. Brazil banned flights from Britain on Christmas Day.
British authorities have come under criticism from opposition lawmakers for delaying a travel ban from Latin America, but argued that the implementation of such measures would take time, and that travelers coming from these countries would arrive during arrival ten days had to sit in quarantine.
“What we need to ensure is that when we make these very important decisions that have a huge impact on people’s personal lives, but also on businesses, we need to have some time,” said Home Secretary Victoria. . said on Sky News.
In the past week, Britain has faced some of its deadliest days since the start of the pandemic, and health authorities have warned that the country’s healthcare system is on the verge of collapse. Authorities have warned they could tighten nationwide lock-in measures if the public does not stay at home.
Britain reported nearly 85,000 deaths, the heaviest death toll in Europe.