Alarm in Europe for the new Covid executive – Prohibition of flights to / from South Africa

LAST UPDATE: 17:00

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday she wanted to stop air travel from South Africa to counter the spread of the new COVID-19 variant.

Von der Leyen said it was “proposing, in close coordination with the Member States, to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the South African region”.

The new variant of the coronavirus has been identified in South Africa, which, according to scientists, is a cause of concern due to the large number of mutations and its rapid spread to young people in Gauteng, the country’s most populous province.

Many countries stop flights

Italy

Italy today banned travelers visiting a number of countries from southern Africa, including South Africa, for the past 14 days due to the spread of a new variant of Covid-19 there.

Health Minister Roberto Speranza has signed an executive order banning visitors to South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Malawi and the last 14 days. , the announcement states.

Britain

Britain announced today that the new strain of coronavirus that is spreading in South Africa is considered by scientists to be the most important that has been identified so far and therefore it needs to be determined whether or not it makes vaccines ineffective.

Defending a ban on flights from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Eswatini, British Transport Minister Grand Saps said the lesson from COVID-19 is that timely action is essential.

Czech republic

The Czech Republic has banned travel from South Africa and other African countries to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus variant, Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek said today.

The ban will take effect tomorrow, Saturday. It applies to third-country nationals who have stayed more than 12 hours in the last two weeks in South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique and Zambia, Kulhanek wrote on Twitter.

Netherlands

The Dutch government recently announced that it will stop flights from South Africa from today at noon, after the identification of the new variant in the country.

France

France is suspending all flights from southern Africa for 48 hours, Health Minister Olivier Veran told reporters, reacting to a new variant of the coronavirus found in some African countries.

Veran said the new variant had not yet been “diagnosed” in Europe, adding that all those who had recently returned from the southern region would be tested and closely monitored.

In addition, French Prime Minister Jean-Castex said in a statement that talks would be held “in the coming hours” with other EU leaders to respond to this new variant.