China suspends passenger flights with UK starting Monday

18:35, December 27, 2020

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  Russia to suspend flights with UK for one week: government

  Russia announced Monday it will join more than a dozen countries in suspending flights with the UK over the emergence of a highly infectious strain of the coronavirus. Police officers wearing face masks guard in terminal F at Moscows Sheremetyevo airport on April 4, 2020. (File photo: AFP)A government decree said Russia would "temporarily suspend flights with the UK due to the worsening epidemiological situation" and that the ban would last for a week starting from midnight local time (2100 GMT) on Monday.The decree added that health officials were "carefully studying" the emergence of the new strain and that "further decisions" would be made based on the results of the research.Russian Health regulator Rospotrebnadzor said in a statement that "mutations are expected for viruses and are more often than not just neutral regional markers useful for contact tracing."Countries around the world began suspending flights from Britain after it said over the weekend that a new more infectious strain of the coronavirus was spreading "out of control".The restrictions have also covered other countries where the new strain has been discovered including South Africa and Denmark.Russia suspended all international air travel at the beginning of the pandemic but resumed flights with several countries this summer including Britain.

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  Sichuan Airlines suspends UK flights but China yet to impose travel ban

  File photo Speculation is rising that China may cancel inbound flights from the UK amid the worsening COVID-19 situation there, after Chinas Sichuan Airlines suspended flights on a UK-China route with a stopover in a third country from Wednesday. Nonetheless, experts expressed confidence in Chinas control of imported COVID-19 infections, saying the country is capable of handling any situation, with or without a travel ban. Compared with the panic and anxiety at the beginning when COVID-19 swept the UK in March, the overseas Chinese community in the UK is responding with a calmer attitude, with many deciding to stay instead of making every effort to return home.Alice Sun, a Chinese working and living in London, told the Global Times on Wednesday that many people chose to stay, considering the infection risk on the trip and limited international flights."The COVID-19 resurgence has happened now and then this year ... the way back home is not very smooth," she said. "Although many Chinese are frustrated by not being able to return, they are now getting used to the new normal."Such a calm attitude comes from knowing how to protect themselves amid the flare-ups by applying epidemic control practices, like wearing masks, keeping social distances and avoiding gatherings, some overseas Chinese told the Global Times. Therefore, faced with the new variant in UK, they are not worried or rushing to return home, the Global Times learned. As the UK was swept by the new variant, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on December 19 a Tier-4 lockdown of London and large parts of southern and eastern England, the toughest restrictions to prohibit travel and gatherings.Under the new T4 policy, dining and entertainment venues in London are closed, but key stores are still open, such as post offices and supermarkets, Sun said.So far, more than 40 countries and regions have decided to suspend flights from the UK or impose stricter entry policies on arriv...

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  India temporarily suspends flights from Britain over new COVID-19 strain

  The Indian government Monday decided to temporarily suspend flight services from Britain in the wake of the new strain of COVID-19 found there.The suspension will come into force on Wednesday and will remain in place until December 31. Government of India has decided that all flights originating fro