Travel From U.K. Shut Down As Nations Assess Threat Of New Coronavirus Strain

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Passengers wearing face masks wait next to the Eurostar Terminal at Gare du Nord train station in Paris on Monday. France is banning all travel from the U.K. for 48 hours in an attempt to make sure that a new strain of the coronavirus in Britain doesn’t reach its shores.

Lewis Joly/AP

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Lewis Joly/AP

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Freight trucks are parked on the M20 near Folkestone, Kent, England, as part of Operation Stack after the Port of Dover was closed and access to the Eurotunnel terminal suspended. There are mounting concerns over a highly contagious new variant of the coronavirus which led several nations to suspend travel and shipments from the U.K.

Steve Parsons/AP

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Steve Parsons/AP

The Coronavirus Crisis
‘We Cannot Continue With Christmas’: U.K. Tightens Rules As Virus Variant Spreads

While EU nations consider how to respond to the latest crisis in the coronavirus pandemic, British government placed many parts of the country into what is known as a «Tier 4 lockdown over the weekend.

«Given the early evidence we have on this new variant of the virus — the potential risk it poses — it is with a very heavy heart I must tell you we cannot continue with Christmas as planned, Prime Minister Johnson said.

Under those restrictions, British officials urge those under Tier 4 should refrain from interacting with anyone outside their immediate household during the Christmas holiday.