MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd December, 2020) The Swedish authorities on Monday introduced a travel ban for passengers from neighboring Denmark in a bid to prevent the spread of a mutated coronavirus strain, the Swedish Local news outlet reported, citing the government.
Earlier in the day, Sweden announced a similar ban on arrivals from the United Kingdom, which was among the first countries to detect the fast-spreading COVID-19 variant.
"The new mutated virus has also been confirmed in Denmark and some other countries. But Denmark has also had an increased spread lately and elected to close down for example all shopping malls during Christmas and the holidays," Swedish Home Affairs Minister Mikael Damberg said, as quoted by the media outlet.
The minister added that there was a risk of Danes crossing the border to shop for Christmas and spend their vacation in the Swedish coastal city of Malmo.
"Now when we are closing libraries on the Swedish side, then it's not reasonable that Danish tourists should come and shop or go to a restaurant," Damberg added.
According to the news portal, the ban on arrivals from Denmark will enter into force on Tuesday at midnight and last through the month, while the one on UK flights will be in force until Wednesday.
The new restrictions will not affect Swedish citizens, who will still be able to travel from Denmark and the UK to Sweden. According to the authorities, the government has no right to prevent citizens from returning to their homeland.
Last week, the UK health authorities announced that the country had identified a new variant of the coronavirus that was 70 percent more transmissible than other Sars-Cov-2 virus strains. The new coronavirus variant, which infects at a more rapid rate but does not appear to be more deadly or pose any concerns for vaccines, has also been detected in the Netherlands, Denmark, South Africa and Australia.
Dozens of countries have already suspended air traffic with the United Kingdom and other affected countries.
