UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that he might have to put France on the "red list" of countries from which travel is prohibited over coronavirus concerns, even though this will likely lead to trade disruptions
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th March, 2021) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that he might have to put France on the "red list" of countries from which travel is prohibited over coronavirus concerns, even though this will likely lead to trade disruptions.
"In terms of putting France on the red list ... so there are consequences, but it is something that we will have to look at. We will have to look at tougher measures just because of this ambiguity about the effectiveness of the vaccines [against new variants]," he told a parliamentary committee.
The Labour party demanded earlier in the day that France be added to the list of at-risk countries amid a rapid spread of the disease on the continent, which is attributed to mutated viral strains. The European Union is also behind the UK on vaccination rates.
Johnson said there would be consequences for UK supplies and for cross-Channel movements. He estimated that the United Kingdom imported some 75 percent of medicines and 50 percent of food through the so-called Short Straits route between the port cities of Dover and Calais.
