COVID-19 virus mutation means Czech Republic introducing quarantine for arrivals from Britain, flights stop today at noon
The Czech Health Ministry tweeted this morning that the Czech Republic is stopping incoming flights from Great Britain as of noon today. Flights from there are also being cancelled by other European states because of a new mutation that has appeared in Britain of the virus that causes COVID-19, detected in southern England, that experts say is able to spread much faster than other strains.
People arriving to the Czech Republic from Great Britain have had to undergo compulsory home quarantine as of yesterday. “As of 12:00 no airplanes from Great Britain are allowed to land in the Czech Republic. Incoming flights from that destination have been halted,” the ministry tweeted today.
According to the information available on the website of Václav Havel Airport in Prague, four flights from London are meant to land here today, the first at 10:15 and the other three after noon – although all flights from Britain to the Czech Republic will be banned from landing then. People who have spent at least 24 hours in Britain currently are obligated to quarantine upon arrival.
People in quarantine will undergo a PCR test for the COVID-19 disease caused by the virus anywhere from the fifth to the seventh day after arriving in the Czech Republic. If they test negative at that point, they will be able to leave quarantine.
Those who test positive will be required to isolate at home for the full 10 days of quarantine. “Given the risk associated with the new mutation of the virus that has been proven to exist in Great Britain, as of today we are introducing compulsory home quarantine for anybody who spent at least 24 hours there during the last 14 days and is currently arriving in the Czech Republic,” the Czech Health Ministry tweeted yesterday.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš announced yesterday evening that the Government would be discussing banning flights from Great Britain today. “In cabinet we certainly will be discussing whether to ban incoming flights, just as we did for flights from Italy during the first wave… Some countries have already done this, I personally have no problem with it,” he said.
Great Britain had already been assigned to the most dangerous group of “red” countries on the Czech Health Ministry’s so-called travel traffic light system. People who have spent more than 12 hours in such countries during the last 14 days must complete a form upon arrival to the Czech Republic and undergo a test for COVID-19 or provide results from a test taken abroad.
