First European case of new Covid variant detected
in Belgium
Variant found in unvaccinated woman with no links to
southern Africa, as UK bans flights from six countries
Rowena
Mason and Daniel Boffey
Fri 26 Nov
2021 14.24 GMT
The first
European case of the new B.1.1.529 variant has been detected in Belgium, as the
UK imposed new restrictions on travel from South Africa and five other nearby
countries because of the risk that vaccines may not protect against it.
Just hours
after the UK health secretary, Sajid Javid, warned it was highly likely the new
variant has spread further than where it was first discovered in South Africa,
Belgium recorded a case in a woman who had recently travelled from Egypt via
Turkey.
The case
was identified in an unvaccinated young adult woman who developed mild flu-like
symptoms 11 days after travelling and had no links with South Africa or other
countries in southern Africa.
The
identification of the variant in Europe raises questions about whether the
restrictions on travel from six African countries will be enough to stop the
variant reaching the UK.
Javid said
on Friday that he was “concerned this new variant may pose substantial risk to
public health” because of the fear it may evade current vaccines.
He said
there were no known cases yet in the UK, but precautions were being taken
because current vaccines “may be less effective against it” and it may be more
transmissible than other variants.
New Covid
variant highly likely to have spread beyond South Africa, says Sajid Javid –
video
Flights
from six countries – South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and
Namibia – have been temporarily banned from midday on Friday until hotel
quarantine is set up again. The accommodation costs £2,285 for one adult.
From 4am on
Sunday, UK and Irish nationals arriving from those countries will be required
to book and pay for a government-approved hotel quarantine for 10 days.
Non-UK/Irish nationals will be banned from entry.
Any UK
nationals who arrive from those countries before Sunday, or who have arrived in
the last 10 days, must get day two and day eight PCR tests even if they are
vaccinated, and isolate at home along with the rest of the household. NHS test
and trace will be contacting any travellers in this category and asking them to
get PCR tests and undergo isolation.
Javid said
the government would not do anything to help British nationals get back from
South Africa before midday and argued that the best thing for anyone who was
now on one of the red list countries was to make their own way back and enter
hotel quarantine from Sunday.
He
acknowledged that thousands of tourists and other travellers were likely to be
hit by the restricitions, involving paying many thousands of pounds in hotel
quarantine bills.
“I
understand whether it’s sports teams or the thousands of British tourists and
others that currently find themselves in South Africa, Botswana and these
countries, this is very difficult news, but I hope they will understand,” he
said.
Those who
cannot pay may be eligible for hardship arrangements, which include repayment
plans or fee waivers in “exceptionally limited circumstances”.
The rules
apply to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as all the devolved
nations are aligning on the policies.
Javid said
it was a “fast-moving situation and there remains a high degree of
uncertainty”. He urged everyone to get their Covid vaccine booster shots as
soon as possible.
The health
secretary said there were “very live” discussions over the prospect of adding
further countries to the travel red list.
He was
pressed on whether further public health measures – such as mandatory masking
in public places and a return to social distancing – were necessary, but
insisted they was not needed for now.
“The plan
A, the policies that we put in place, they remain the policies that I think we
need at this time,” he said. “[The questioner] won’t be surprised to know we do
keep this under review and if we need to go further, we will.”
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