UK to hold virus crisis talks after France closes border

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee later Monday after France closed its borders to the U.K. to stem the spread of a new strain of the coronavirus circulating in London and the southeast of England.

The meeting of the COBRA civil contingencies committee comes amid warnings of “significant disruption” around the ports in the English Channel, with tailbacks going back miles into the southeastern English county of Kent.

The transport of freight is facing massive disruptions after France closed its borders for 48 hours, which means lorries cannot get across the English Channel by boat. The government has urged everyone to avoid traveling to Kent, which hosts many of the cross-Channel ports, notably at Dover. Eurotunnel has also suspended services.

Canada and Poland are among the latest countries to halt flights from the U.K., following the lead of many in Europe. France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, and Bulgaria were among those who on Sunday announced widespread restrictions on flights from the U.K.

The moves come in the wake of Johnson's announcement on Saturday that he was placing London and the southeast of England in a new Tier 4 level of restrictions after a warning from scientists that the new variant of the coronavirus was spreading far faster than existing strains.

He said the new variant of the virus is 70% more transmissible and is driving the rapid spread of new infections. On Sunday, the U.K. recorded a record 35,928 new infections.

While experts are stressing that there is no evidence that the new strain is any more lethal, it's inevitable that more cases will lead to more hospitalizations and subsequent virus-related deaths.

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