UK and Israel impose restrictions over new COVID-19 strain from Africa
A new strain of COVID-19 has both the U.K. and Israel imposing new restrictions on travel.
The United Kingdom is banning flights from six African nations and adding those nations to their "red list," on fears over the new COVID-19 variant. The news was first reported by the BBC.
U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said flights from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe are banned beginning Friday Nov. 26.
Javid said while scientists still needed to know more, health officials were worried about the new strain of coronavirus now being found in South Africa and a few other African nations.
The new strain is being called the B.1.1.529 variant. The Wall Street Journal reporting the World Health Organization will hold an emergency meeting on Friday to decide wether or not to declare the new strain a so-called "variant of concern."
The new strain reportedly has more than 30 mutations. It first showed up in Botswana, but already there are reports of dozens of cases in South Africa and there is even a case in Hong Kong. The person in Hong Kong recently returned from a trip to South Africa.
There are no cases reported in the United Kingdom.
South African officials say it appears to spread more rapidly than previous strains.
Javid saying, "And that would suggest that it may well be more transmissible and the current vaccines that we have may well be less effective."
According to the Guardian, health officials in the U.K. will track down passengers who've returned from anywhere in Southern Africa and they will be offered tests to make sure they haven't brought the new strain. U.K. officials are also reportedly further measures including considering requiring all incoming passengers to submit to PCR tests on arrival.
Israel has also banned arrivals from the same six African nations plus Mozambique, and is banning its citizens from visiting those same countries.
There's been no comment so far from the Centers for Disease Control in the U.S.
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The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
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- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
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- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
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- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month