Travelers from the United Kingdom are no longer welcome in an increasing number of countries. For fear of a variant of the coronavirus that could be highly contagious, governments are erratic: travelers from the UK will not get in.
The Netherlands also no longer allows ferry passengers after air travel. All passenger ships from the UK will be banned from mooring until at least 1 January. Truck drivers are exempt from the rule. There will also be no Eurostar trains between the Netherlands and London in the coming days.
In a letter to the House of Representatives, the cabinet also says that for Dutch nationals who are currently detained in the UK, options for consular assistance are being looked into, “especially for distressing cases”. It is not clear from the letter what specific situations are being considered. The cabinet does ask people to look for safe accommodation “while waiting for opportunities to return to the Netherlands.”
Other countries too
In Europe, Belgium, France, Germany and Italy have also decided to ban people from the UK. In some cases with immediate effect, sometimes also with effect from midnight. As a precaution, Turkey is banning travelers from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark and South Africa.
The duration of the measure varies from country to country. For example, the Netherlands and Germany have the turn of the year as a provisional end date, but in France it is valid for 48 hours.
In most cases it only concerns passengers arriving by plane. France, like the Netherlands, goes one step further and applies the restrictions to all types of transport. You can therefore no longer enter there by car via the Eurotunnel.
Austria, Sweden, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic are also considering closing their airports to travelers from the UK.
Ireland, which as a neighboring country has close ties with the UK, is currently only opting for a restriction on traffic with the British. On Tuesday it will be decided whether further measures are needed. Scotland has shut down all traffic with the rest of the UK.
Next day crisis meeting
Germany, as President-in-Office of the EU, has called on the 27 Member States to hold crisis consultations in Brussels the next day, in order to arrive at a joint approach.
As far as is known, El Salvador is the first country outside of Europe to ban travelers from the UK. Travelers from South Africa are no longer welcome either, because a new, potentially highly contagious variant of the virus is also circulating there. That is, by the way, a different variant than that prevails in parts of England.
Last day, there were many people at St. Pancras train station in London who wanted to travel to the mainland by train:
British Prime Minister Johnson announced yesterday that the rapid increase in the number of infections in London and the south and east of England may be largely due to the new variant. That does not seem more pathogenic or deadly than other variants, but according to the British it is up to 70 percent more contagious.
The UK today had almost 36,000 new infections, the highest number since the start of the pandemic. There was also a record number of deaths: 326. The total number of Britons who have died from the consequences of an infection is now 67,000.
To prevent further burden on health care and even more people becoming ill or dying, Johnson announced a strict package of measures, which also apply during the Christmas season.