LONDON (UK) – Britain will ban arrivals from South American countries and Portugal after rising concerns over a new Brazilian variant of the coronavirus, transport minister Grant Shapps said on Thursday.
Boris Johnson expressed concern about the Brazilian variant on Wednesday, even as the country is trying to contain a UK variant amid a surge in cases at the end of last year.
The Brazilian variant bears some characteristics with the ones found in Britain and South Africa, believed by scientists to be more transmissible but not to cause more severe disease.
Shapps wrote on Twitter, “I’ve taken the urgent decision to ban arrivals from Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela – from tomorrow, 15 Jan at 4am (0400 GMT) following evidence of a new variant in Brazil.”
Portugal was also added to the list as it has high travel links with Brazil, he said. Workers transporting essential good from Portugal would be exempt.
Attempts to contain variants of the coronavirus have limited travel, with many countries, which includes Brazil in December. It has already introduced restrictions on travel from Britain to try to contain the UK variant.
Shapps said the new measures would not be applicable to British and Irish nationals and third-country nationals with residence rights. However, passengers coming from those destinations must go into self-isolation for 10 days.
