12/21/2020 12:07 PM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 12/21/2020 12:07
Australia reported on Monday that it detected
two cases
of the new strain of coronavirus circulating in England in quarantine facilities set up for travelers.
Gibraltar too, plus Denmark, the Netherlands and Italy.
The brand new variant, more contagious than the previous one, is already going around the world.
Your ally:
airplanes.
The new strain prompted the UK's European neighbors and several other countries, from Canada to India, to
close their doors to travelers
from that country, leaving the kingdom isolated and on the brink of panic.
Little is known about the latest variant of the coronavirus, but experts say that the vaccines that are being developed
should be effective
in stopping it.
v 1.5
Coronavirus in the UK
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Source:
Johns Hopkins University
Infographic:
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Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea said they were monitoring the new strain, even as they are battling an increase in infections domestically.
The health director for the Australian state of New South Wales, Dr Kerry Chant, said the cases recorded there were from travelers
returning from the UK
.
Australia requires that all international arrivals, with a few exceptions, undergo a 14-day state-administered hotel quarantine.
Australia reported more than 28,000 coronavirus cases and more than 900 deaths.
People with chinstraps on the streets of Sydney.
Photo: Bloomberg
In Gibraltar
The Government of the United Kingdom confirmed this Monday that the new variant of the coronavirus has been detected in Gibraltar, where precisely
the restrictions have been reinforced
after the rebound in infections detected during the last week.
El Peñón has registered a rebound in infections in this last week and the Government has urged families to
avoid taking their children to class
this Monday and Tuesday.
In addition,
visits to nursing homes for the elderly
have also been banned
,
a "very sad and very tough" measure, as recognized by the chief minister, Fabian Picardo: "We have no choice."
Europe does not suspend Schengen
The countries of the European Union (EU) agreed on Monday to
keep
the internal borders of the Schengen area open after member states such as Germany, France, Italy or Belgium suspended their connections with the United Kingdom.
"Given the experience of the beginning of the pandemic, Member States ... stressed the importance of keeping borders open within the Schengen area," reported European sources.
Technical advisers from the 27 countries of the European Union held on Monday morning an urgent meeting of the crisis mechanism of the IPCR (Integrated Political Response to the Crisis, in its acronym in English) that lasted for three hours.
The Twenty-seven
did not agree on
any measure regarding the reopening of borders with the United Kingdom, but the sources added that "another important issue for Member States is the question of the repatriation of citizens and legal residents who wish to return from the United Kingdom", without more details.
Called for calm
The chief virologist at the prestigious Charité hospital in Berlin, Christian Drosten, said he was
not so concerned
about the detection in Great Britain of a new strain.
The expert said that British scientists say they have to wait at least a week to complete the preliminary analysis of the data and determine
if the suspicions are true.
According to Drosten, when it comes to the increase in infection numbers, the question is whether the new variant of the virus is the culprit at all, "or whether local transmission mechanisms (which triggered the infections) have just come into play."
On the other hand, the virologist assumes that the new strain circulating in Great Britain
has already reached Germany.
"It is already in Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and even Australia. Why shouldn't it be in Germany?"
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicated on Saturday that the newly detected coronavirus variant is up to 70 percent more contagious than the previous one.
Drosten expressed doubts about the scientific certainty of that claim.
In his view, a figure was released, the politicians quoted it and the media echoed it.
"Suddenly a value is taken for granted - 70 percent - and nobody even knows what it means," said the German virologist.
Agencies
ap
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