Coronavirus
Britain Cut Off by Dozens of Countries as New COVID Strain Spreads
LONDON — The United Kingdom found itself increasingly cut adrift from the outside world Monday as countries took drastic action to stem a new mutant coronavirus strain from spreading worldwide.
Dozens of countries, including Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Iran, Colombia, and Morocco, have suspended flights from the U.K. for 48 hours or more. Saudi Arabia has closed its borders and suspended all flights regardless of destination or origin.
Crisis meetings were scheduled in London and Brussels as officials grappled with how to respond to the variant, which experts estimate could be 70 percent more transmissible than others in circulation.
At England’s main port of Dover, already gridlocked before this weekend as a symptom of the country’s imminent uncoupling with the European Union, freight officials warned that the new travel bans could wreak havoc on supply chains of food and goods days before Christmas.
