Britain working to reduce travel chaos

LONDON • Britain is working closely with others to minimise transport disruption, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman said yesterday after a slew of territories banned travellers and freight from Britain.

The various countries and territories closed their borders to Britain over fears of a highly infectious new coronavirus strain, heightening global panic, causing travel chaos and raising the prospect of UK food shortages days before the Brexit cliff edge.

"We are working closely with our international partners and are working urgently to minimise the disruption," the spokesman told reporters.

Asked whether the government believed a French travel ban was partly motivated by Brexit, the spokesman said: "As has been the case throughout the pandemic, there have been different travel restrictions imposed around the world."

Several countries and territories - including India, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, Jordan, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Israel, Canada and Hong Kong - have suspended travel from Britain after Mr Johnson warned that a mutated virus variant, up to 70 per cent more transmissible, had been identified in the country.

However, scientists said the strain may already be circulating in countries with less advanced detection methods than the United Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman closed their borders completely.

Australia said two people who travelled from the UK to New South Wales state were found to be carrying the mutated virus.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo urged the US govern-ment to take steps to prevent the new strain from entering the country, which has been the worst hit by Covid-19 with almost 318,000 deaths.

"It is high time the federal government takes swift action because today that variant is getting on a plane and landing in JFK, and all it takes is one person," he said.

US Assistant Health Secretary Brett Giroir said nothing had yet been decided on any travel ban. "I think everything is possible. We just need to put everything on the table, have an open scientific discussion and make the best recommendation," he told CNN. He said the White House coronavirus task force would meet later yesterday.

Mr Johnson was also to chair an emergency response meeting yesterday to discuss international travel, in particular the flow of freight in and out of Britain.

European Union officials held a meeting on coordinating their response.

France shut its border to arrivals of people and trucks from Britain, closing off one of the most important trade arteries with mainland Europe.

As families and truck drivers tried to navigate the travel bans to get back home in time for Christmas, British supermarket chain Sainsbury's said shortages would start to appear within days if transport ties were not quickly restored.

"If nothing changes, we will start to see gaps over the coming days on lettuce, some salad leaves, cauliflowers, broccoli and citrus fruit - all of which are imported from the continent at this time of year," a spokesman said.

France's FNTR national road haulage federation said: "No driver wants to deliver to the UK now, so the UK is going to see its freight supply dry up."

The global alarm was reflected in financial markets. European shares slumped, with travel and leisure stocks bearing the brunt of the pain; British Airways owner IAG and easyJet fell about 8 per cent.

The new variant and restrictions in Britain compound the chaos as the country prepares to finally part ways with the EU, possibly without a trade deal, when the Brexit transition period ends at 2300 GMT on Dec 31.

The new variant, which scientists said was 40 per cent to 70 per cent more transmissible, is rapidly becoming the dominant strain in parts of southern England, including London.

Experts stressed, though, that there was no evidence that vaccines, including the one made by Pfizer and BioNTech, would not protect against this variant.

REUTERS