The restriction will come into effect on Saturday and remain for at least two weeks, said the British Ministry of Transport, affecting people who have been or transited in the previous 10 days through Angola, Mozambique, Botswana, Essuatíni, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, as well as the Seychelles and Mauritius.
British and Irish citizens and foreigners residing in the UK may enter the country, but will have to comply with 10 days prophylactic isolation.
The "urgent" measure was announced on Thursday evening by the British Government, which sets the rules on the borders in England and where most of the flights concerned land, but has also been adopted by the Scottish and Welsh autonomous governments, pending confirmation from Northern Ireland.
Since December 24, the United Kingdom has banned direct flights with South Africa and the entry of passengers who had been in the African country in the previous 10 days because of the risk presented by a new strain of SARS-CoV-2 identified by South African scientists, considered highly infectious.
According to the UK Department of Transport, the decision "is the result of new data on the sharp increase in the incidence of the new strain, which has greatly increased the risk of transmission in the community among nine other southern African countries, as well as the Seychelles and Mauritius, both with strong tourist connections to South Africa.
In an interview with LBC radio this morning, Minister Grant Shapps said the strain is "worrying experts because the vaccine may not respond in the same way or may not work in the same way.
The British government also announced on Thursday that it will require a negative covid-19 test for all people wishing to enter England, including British citizens, whether by plane, train or boat, with truckers, children under 11 and passengers from countries without the infrastructure to carry out these tests, the list of which is yet to be published.
Shapps said that this new protocol will enter into force "probably Wednesday or Thursday", keeping in parallel with the obligation for all those arriving from countries at risk in the United Kingdom to be quarantined for 10 days.
The UK has one of the heaviest balances in Europe, recording 78,508 deaths by Thursday, with UK authorities attributing an acceleration of infections in recent weeks to a highly infectious strain of coronavirus identified in southern England.
