London: Several nations, including most European countries, placed curbs on travel to and from the United Kingdom on Sunday amid heightened worries over the spread of a new strain of the coronavirus that is spreading there.
While Belgium shut its borders to trains and planes from the UK, the Netherlands suspended flights and Italy was weighing similar curbs.
British premier Boris Johnson and scientists said on Saturday that the new strain had led to spiralling infections.
Germany said it may also impose curbs on flights from the UK and South Africa, which has also detected the new coronavirus strain, a German Health Ministry official said.
The UK tightened its covid-19 curbs for London that hit the Christmas holiday plans of millions.
Germany wants to halt all flights from the UK from midnight until January 6, Bild newspaper said, citing government sources.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was scheduled to hold a phone call with France’s Emmanuel Macron, who is in quarantine, to debate a coordinated European response to the new virus strain detected in Britain, the paper said.
Austria is also planning to stop flights from the UK, the local APA news agency said, citing the health ministry.
The UK reported 27,052 new cases on Saturday, taking the total to more than 2 million, and 534 more deaths, taking the overall official toll to more than 67,000.
Scotland has imposed a ban on travel to the rest of the UK.
Meanwhile, in Israel, passengers arriving from London on Sunday were taken in three buses with a police escort, from Ben-Gurion airport to a hotel marked as a covid quarantine facility.
In the Arabian Gulf, Kuwait added the UK to a list of high-risk countries, indicating flights from the country are banned.
Saudi Arabia on Sunday banned all international flights in the wake of the spread of the deadlier strain of the coronavirus.
India also took note of the widespread action being imposed on travel to and from Britain and is weighing its options.