British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair on Monday a crisis meeting dedicated to the supplies of the United Kingdom after the decision of several countries including France to suspend their connections due to the new strain of novel coronavirus.
“The Prime Minister will lead a COBR meeting tomorrow (for crisis situations, editor’s note) to discuss the situation regarding international travel and in particular the regular flow of freight to and from the United Kingdom”, said a spokesperson, while the port of Dover, serving in particular France, announced to close for outgoing traffic.
“Other meetings are taking place tonight and tomorrow morning to ensure solid plans are in place”, he added.
Suspend travel
Like several other European countries, France, immediate neighbor of the United Kingdom, has decided Sunday to suspend for 48 hours all travel from British soil, after the appearance of this variant of the virus which would be up to 70% more contagious.
This decision comes in the stride of similar measures taken by Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany or Ireland, reflecting the feeling of anxiety that has won over Europe.
Immediately, the port of Dover (south-east), the main English cross-Channel port, announced to close for outgoing traffic ” until further notice “.
According to the British Road Transport Association, some 10,000 heavy goods vehicles pass through it every day.
Significant disturbances
This closure comes particularly badly as English ports are currently experiencing massive traffic, sometimes causing delays and traffic jams on the roads leading there, as many companies are stocking to prepare for the UK’s exit from the European single market. evening of December 31.
Ten days from the deadline, post-Brexit trade negotiations between London and Brussels have still not succeeded and in the event of failure, the sudden introduction of quotas and customs duties raises fears of chaos in the country’s supplies. .
“We expect significant disturbances in the area”Transport Minister Grant Shapps tweeted saying he is working on “Emergency measures” to minimize the impact.
The new variant of SARS-CoV-2 prompted the British government to urgently reconfine on Sunday the 16 million inhabitants of London and the south-east of England, forced to put aside their Christmas reunion.
” Out of control “
She is ” out of control “ in the United Kingdom, indicated the Minister of Health Matt Hancock on British television, causing there a surge of contaminations and hospitalizations. “It will be very difficult to keep it under control until a vaccine is deployed”, he added, hinting that the restrictions could last at least ” two months “.
The United Kingdom, one of the hardest-hit countries in Europe with more than 67,000 deaths and a record of nearly 36,000 cases on Sunday, informed the World Health Organization (WHO) of the increased contagiousness of this disease. strain.
Already subject to stringent restrictions, residents of London, the south-east and parts of eastern England are now being instructed to stay at home. Non-essential businesses have closed, a blow in these usually good times for their business.
“If it is necessary, so be it”, confides, resigned, Liz Field, a 73-year-old pensioner, to AFP. “We can celebrate (Christmas) in January, February, anytime”.
“Serious negligence”
While supporting the restrictions, Labor opposition leader Keir Starmer accused Boris Johnson of “Gross negligence” for acting late and ignoring red flags ” during weeks “. On Wednesday, the Conservative leader still claimed that he would be “Inhuman” to cancel Christmas.
Previous mutations of SARS-CoV-2 have already been observed and reported worldwide.
The government’s scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, indicated on Saturday that this new variant, called VUI 2020, in addition to spreading rapidly, also became the form ” dominant “. It would have appeared in mid-September in London or in Kent (south-east).
Further studies are underway to determine its degree of transmissibility and its possible resistance to vaccines. There is no indication yet that the new strain is causing a more severe form of the disease.
Much criticized since the start of the pandemic for its management of the crisis, the government is betting big on vaccination to get out of it, with the objective of administering a first dose of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine to 500,000 people by the end of the weekend.
– .
