MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st December, 2020) Israel has suspended the air traffic with the United Kingdom, among other countries, in a bid to prevent the import of a newly-detected more infectious coronavirus strain, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's press service said on Sunday.
Throughout the day, countries have been unilaterally closing borders with the United Kingdom, where the discovery of a mutated virus had prompted the authorities to practically lock down parts of the country on Saturday.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein are now leading a Corona Cabinet decision to immediately close entry from Great Britain, Denmark and South Africa and to add additional countries forthwith," the prime minister's office said on Twitter.
Additionally, all Israelis returning from abroad regardless of the country will have to quarantine and get tested, while the government said it would also seek "reducing the departure of Israelis abroad."
On Saturday, the UK imposed Tier 4 restrictions � the strictest in a four-level scale, equivalent to a lockdown � in some parts of the country, including London, after confirming that more than half of all new COVID-19 cases had been caused by a mutated coronavirus strain. According to interim assessments, the new strain can transmit up to 70 percent faster than the original coronavirus, although there is no data available on whether or not it is more deadly.
Amid UK citizens rushing out of the locked down areas ahead of the Christmas season, some EU member states chose to suspend the air traffic with the whole of the United Kingdom in a bid to prevent the import of the new strain. This includes the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland and Bulgaria. Italy, Belgium and Austria are also expected to announce the ban shortly.
