The Government of India has suspended all the flights coming from the United Kingdom on Monday after a new strain of coronavirus was identified in England. This new strain of coronavirus emerged in the European countries and health official claim that it is more infectious than the current coronavirus strain that originated in China. The Ministry of Civil Aviation announced the suspension through their Twitter account on Monday.
This suspension will take place until 31st December 2020, which will commence on 22nd December 2020. The flights originating from India to also the UK will also get suspended during the mentioned time-frame. After the new strain was found in the UK, several other countries including Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Canada and Croatia also suspended the flights originating from the UK.
Considering the prevailing situation in UK. Govt. of India has decided that all flights originating from UK to India to be suspended till 31st December 2020 (23.59 hours).
— MoCA_GoI (@MoCA_GoI) December 21, 2020
However, the special case flights will operate during the suspension period. The charter flights, repatriation flights, flights with an air bubble, and air ambulance will continue flying to the UK and from the UK. Vistara and Air India are the Indian airlines that have daily flights to London from New Delhi and Mumbai. Similarly, British Airlines and Virgin Atlantic operate four to six weekly flights between Mumbai/Delhi and London.
This new strain is 40-70 per cent more transmissible than the original strain.
The new variant of coronavirus is reportedly 70 per cent more infectious than the original strain. Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary reported that 60 different local authorities have identified the new strain of the deadly virus. According to the latest report, more than 1000 people have already caught the virus in South England. The new strain of coronavirus comes a few weeks later the UK commenced COVID-19 vaccination.
The scientists reported that the new strain is fast-moving and is out-of-control. However, they are continuously studying for the explanation of this new mutation report. There is no evidence at the moment that proves that this new strain is causing disease. Dr James Gill mentioned that everyone should take seriously and follow stronger restrictions, but also affirmed that they don’t know whether the virus is deadly than the original strain.
