The UK will close its borders to travelers from South America and Portugal on Friday as concerns grow about a new Covid-19 variant that has emerged, according to researchers in the Brazilian Amazon, a region that has struggled with the disease to face.
The variant, which has similarities to the many infectious species identified in Britain and South Africa, was reported in Japan earlier this month among a group of travelers who recently returned from the Amazon and were also responsible for a case of re-infection. in the sprawling Brazilian state of Amazonas, researchers said.
The UK Department of Transportation said on Thursday it would deny access to anyone traveling from or through South America and Portugal for the past ten days from early Friday. The ban also includes Panama and the Portuguese-speaking African country Cape Verde.
“The decision to ban travel from these destinations is the discovery of a new coronavirus variant first identified in Brazil, which may have spread to countries with strong travel connections to Brazil,” the department said Thursday.
Specialists in infectious diseases in the Amazon have long feared that the hard-hit region could become a breeding ground for mutations of the virus as the local health system collapses.