Norway has decided to extend the ban on flights from the United Kingdom until the second day of Christmas, December 26, due to the spread of the mutated coronavirus in the UK, Norway's Ministry of Health said on Wednesday
MURMANSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd December, 2020) Norway has decided to extend the ban on flights from the United Kingdom until the second day of Christmas, December 26, due to the spread of the mutated coronavirus in the UK, Norway's Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.
On Monday, Norway banned all direct flights from the UK for a period of 48 hours, but with a possible further extension.
"Norway extends the termination of direct flights with the UK until the second day of Christmas (26 December). The ban may be extended after New Year," the ministry of health said in a message.
Health Minister Bent Hoie said that more information about the new strain of coronavirus was needed to prevent its spread in Norway.
Hoie added that at the moment, Norway was working on creating an electronic registration system for all travelers in addition to the measures that were already in force - a negative test for coronavirus and a 10-day quarantine.
Sweden, meanwhile, has extended its ban on flights from the UK until the new year, Aftonbladet newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing airline SAS.
"We have just received oral information from the Ministry of Transport that the ban on flights from the UK is being extended until the new year," SAS spokesman John Eckhoff said as quoted by the newspaper.
The Swedish government has yet to comment on the information. The current ban, introduced on Monday, expires at 4 p.m. local time (15:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
On Saturday, UK health officials announced that the country had identified a new variant of the coronavirus that is 70 percent more transmissible than other SARS-CoV-2 virus strains. The new strain of the coronavirus is said to infect more easily, but does not appear to be more deadly or pose any threats to vaccines.
Many countries have suspended passenger travel to and from the United Kingdom in a bid to prevent the import of the new virus strain.
