New measures on all arrivals from the UK will apply from 6am tomorrow, Monday 21 December, according to an announcement by the Minister of State for Civil Protection and Crisis Management, Nikos Chardalias. Specifically, from 6am tomorrow, the seven-day home isolation measure comes into force, instead of the three days that apply to arrivals from any other country.
It is noted that this new measure is complementary to the existing ones, i.e. all travellers will continue to be required to have a negative 72-hour PCR test, while they will continue to be required to undergo a rapid test upon arrival in the country.
The Committee of Experts of the Ministry of Health on the treatment of the new coronavirus will evaluate the scientific data more extensively tomorrow and will come back with any new recommendations.
Belgium will suspend flights and train services from Britain - Italy and France expected to follow
Belgium will suspend flights and train services from Britain from midnight on Sunday (01.00 GMT) after the discovery of a new strain of coronavirus circulating in parts of British territory that is suspected to be more contagious, a government official told Agence France-Presse.
For his part, Prime Minister Alexander de Cro explained to the VRT television network that the duration of the suspension will be at least 24 hours.
The sudden decision comes the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the reintroduction of quarantine in London, south-east England and part of the east of the country, following the discovery of a new mutation of Covid-19 in these areas.
The suspension of travel to Belgium from the UK will affect flights and the Eurostar train, which departs from London. It follows a similar ban decided by the Netherlands.
In addition, Germany is considering banning flights from the United Kingdom and South Africa, where the variant of the virus was also detected, a German health ministry source told Agence France-Presse.
Italy suspends flights to and from Britain
Italy plans to suspend flights to and from Britain over fears of the discovery of a new strain of coronavirus detected there, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said in a Facebook post.
«As a government we have a duty to protect Italians, that is why, after informing the British government, with the Minister of Health we will sign the decree to suspend flights with Great Britain,» Di Maio wrote.
«Our priority is to protect Italy and our compatriots».
France is considering banning flights and train services from Britain
France is considering suspending flights and train services from Britain after a new strain of coronavirus was detected there, BFM television network reported today.
The French authorities' official decision is expected later today, BFM said without citing its sources.
Officials at the Department of Transportation are currently unavailable for comment.
