Several countries have suspended ties with the UK, following a crisis meeting in London on Monday

A new “out of control” variant of the corona virus in the British region was discovered on Sunday, prompting several countries, including Germany, France, Turkey and Israel, to suspend ties with the United Kingdom, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair a crisis meeting on Monday.

The German government announced on Sunday evening that EU experts have come to the conclusion that the current vaccines against Covid 19 are working against this new pressure.

“From all that we know at the moment, and from the following discussions between experts of the European authorities, the new variant will have no impact on vaccines,” said Jens Spann, the EU’s acting health minister, on television.

Germany’s decision to sever ties with the United Kingdom, which currently only considers aircraft and is fully acceptable to the European Union, should be formalized in the coming hours, “a government source told AFP, adding that European countries were discussing the joint response on maritime, rail and road links in parallel.

France, for its part, has suspended all travel by people from the United Kingdom for 48 hours from midnight on Sunday. “Only unsupported cargo will be approved. People’s arrivals or traffic to the UK will not be affected,” the government said.

In addition to Germany and France, a dozen EU countries, including Italy and Ireland, have announced similar measures.

Outside the EU, the same is true for Kuwait, Iran (for two weeks), Switzerland, El Salvador and Israel. A new variant of SARS-CoV-2 was also discovered in the South. Saudi Arabia has suspended all international flights and access to its ports for at least a week.

As a result of these actions, Boris Johnson is scheduled to attend a meeting on Monday to discuss “international travel-related situations and especially the United Kingdom and the regular flow of cargo from there,” while Dover Harbor, France, announced the closure of outbound traffic.

British Health Minister Matt Hancock acknowledged on Sunday that the new strain of the virus was “out of control”, thus justifying the re-control of London and parts of the UK. “Until a vaccine is widely distributed it is very difficult to keep it under control.”

On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel discussed the new variant of the corona virus.

– “No proof” –

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Disease Agency on Sunday called on their members in Europe to strengthen their control over the spread of a new variant of the corona virus, especially by improving the ability to detect the strain.

The European Disease Control Agency (ECTC), which includes about thirty countries, including members of the European Union and the United Kingdom, does not “rule out” that this variant is spreading beyond the British border. .

Also, Italy announced on Sunday evening that it had found the first case to be diagnosed by the Celio military hospital in Rome. Some other contaminants had already been reported in Denmark (nine), as well as a case in the Netherlands and Australia underlining the World Health Organization.

The World Health Organization continued that “in addition to the initial indications that the variant may be more contagious, the new British strain may” affect the effectiveness of certain diagnostic methods. “

However, “there is no evidence of a change in the severity of the disease”.

Boris Johnson said on Saturday that the new variant of the virus was up to 70 percent more contagious than the previous strain.

To curb this clumsy version, more than 16 million Londoners and people in the southeast of England woke up Sunday under new imprisonment, forced to abandon Christmas.

– “Christmas in January”

Oxford Street, the main shopping street in central London, was deserted. “If it’s needed, stay that way,” said 73-year-old retired Liz Field. “We can celebrate (Christmas) in January and February”.