MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th January, 2021) Colombia has suspended air traffic with Brazil for a month over the spread of a new strain of the coronavirus there, Colombian President Ivan Duque said.
"To prevent the spread of the new strain [of the coronavirus] found in Brazil, the Colombian Ministry of Health and I have decided to suspend flights to and from Brazil for a month starting from Friday. Those who arrived from the country between January 18 and 27 must undergo a 14-day self-isolation," Duque wrote on his Twitter page on late Wednesday.
The president added that only passenger flights would be suspended.
The air traffic with Brazil has already been suspended by the United States, Peru, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Austria and Turkey.
The B.1.1.28.1 strain of the coronavirus was detected in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro in late December.
The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, more than 100.7 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 2.17 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
Brazil comes third in terms of the number of confirmed cases following the United States and India. The country has registered more than 8.9 million COVID-19 patients, with over 218,000 fatalities, JHU says.
Colombia has recorded over 2 million coronavirus cases and more than 52,000 deaths, according to JHU.
