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Europe panics: new strain of virus more contagious, likely not more lethal; can vaccine catch up?
A New Covid-19 Strain Is Shutting Down Europe
The presence of a more infectious strain of the virus that causes Covid-19 is shutting down Europe, causing a wave of lockdowns and travel restrictions, prompting a logistics crisis in the U.K., and hammering stock markets across the continent.
The U.K. government said on Saturday that a coronavirus strain that is 70% more infectious is spreading in the U.K., which reported its highest-ever daily rise in infections on Sunday with 35,928 cases. The variant found in the U.K., which is quickly replacing other versions of the virus, is believed to be linked to cases discovered in Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Australia.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the threat of the more infectious version of the virus on Saturday, when he canceled plans to ease social restrictions over the Christmas period. The move meant around 18 million people in southeast England were plunged into a new lockdown, and thousands fled London in the hours before the restrictions took effect.
European countries followed suit in cracking down on the spread of the mutant virus, with new bans on entry from the U.K. now in place, and the European Union set to announce a coordinated response on Monday after a meeting of its crisis-response committee. More than 30 countries—including India, Germany, Canada, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia—and the special administrative region of Hong Kong have now banned all arrivals from the U.K.
After France closed its border for 48 hours from midnight on Sunday, the U.K. faces a logistics crisis in the busy run-up to Christmas, with the key trade route between the country and continental Europe cut off. France halted all travel from the U.K., including inbound trade between the key ports of Calais and Dover and through the Eurotunnel. The Strait of Dover between England and France is one of the busiest maritime routes in the world, with up to 10,000 trucks shuttled across this passage of the English Channel each day.
Shortages of critical goods imported from Europe, like food and medicine, could happen if French drivers stop traveling to the U.K. because they are unable to return. There are now thousands of trucks on each side of the English Channel, as Paris is calling for a strict new testing regime before opening the blockade on Wednesday morning.
