China is shutting down air traffic with the United Kingdom altogether. The Chinese authorities have decided to do so because a new variant of the coronavirus is circulating in the United Kingdom.
According to British scientists, this is probably a lot more contagious than previous mutations. No flights are permitted in either direction until further notice.
Travel restrictions already applied in China. For example, foreigners were no longer allowed to fly from British airports to China. Chinese nationals were allowed to do that until now, but not anymore.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry points to the “exceptional nature of the virus mutation and its potential consequences” to justify the decision. Many other countries took the same conclusion at the beginning of this week, with the Netherlands leading the way.
While China is shutting down air traffic completely, travellers from the United Kingdom have been welcome again in the Netherlands since Wednesday.
They must then show a recent negative test result. It must be a PCR test. It must also not be older than 72 hours. Anyone entering the country is strongly advised to go into quarantine for ten days.