Many European countries respond to the mutated new coronavirus in the UK
Xinhua News Agency, Geneva, December 22. The mutated new coronavirus in the UK has recently attracted widespread attention. Many European countries such as Sweden, Switzerland, and France have taken countermeasures against the mutated new coronavirus.
This mutated virus was named "VUI-202012/01", and a large number of cases of this mutated virus infection have appeared in some areas of the UK where the new crown epidemic is more serious.
The World Health Organization announced on the 21st that this mutated new coronavirus has been found in Australia, Denmark, Italy, Iceland and the Netherlands.
The German Federal Ministry of Transport announced on the 20th that in view of the newly emerging mutant new crown virus, it will ban flights from the United Kingdom from 0:00 on the 21st until the end of this year.
The ban does not involve return crews from Germany, flights that only carry mail, cargo or empty flights, and flights that carry public health medical personnel.
Sweden announced on the 21st that travelers from neighboring Denmark are prohibited from entering the country. The entry ban will not affect Swedish citizens traveling from Denmark or the United Kingdom to Sweden, but other travelers arriving in Sweden will be denied entry.
The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a travel warning, prohibiting all non-essential travel to the UK.
The Swiss Federal Council announced on the 21st that everyone entering Switzerland from the UK since December 14 must be quarantined for 10 days.
The Swiss Federal Civil Aviation Administration also announced that it will suspend flights between Switzerland and the United Kingdom from midnight on December 20.
Croatian Prime Minister Plenković announced on the evening of the 20th through his personal social account that Croatia will temporarily refuse the landing of passenger flights from the United Kingdom for 48 consecutive hours starting that night, pending the investigation of the mutation of the new crown virus by the relevant parties.
The French Prime Minister's Office issued a statement on the 20th, suspending the entry of all persons from the UK into France for 48 hours starting from 24:00 on the 20th, including the entry of cargo persons related to roads, railways, air, and waterways.
Unaccompanied cargo transportation from the UK and travel of people from France to the UK remain normal.
Whether the mutated virus affects the effectiveness of the vaccine is also of concern.
On the 21st, the European Medicines Agency made a positive assessment on the safety and effectiveness of a new crown vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Ltd. of the United States and a German biotech company. The European Commission subsequently approved the conditional listing of the vaccine in the EU.
Aimee Cook, head of the European Medicines Agency, said that there is no evidence that the vaccine is not effective against the mutated new coronavirus in the UK.
(Reporters involved: Liu Qu, Zhang Jiawei, Li Jizhi, Fu Yiming, Zhang Yirong, Tang Ji, Nie Xiaoyang)