Jamaica, Paraguay, Dominican Republic restrict entry amid new COVID-19 strain in UK

Kingston, Dec 22 (Sputnik) Jamaica and the Dominican Republic are temporarily suspending air connection with the United Kingdom, while Paraguay has imposed entry restrictions on people who have recently been to the UK, the countries’ authorities said on Tuesday.
“The Government of Jamaica will ban all the flights coming into the island from the UK for a period of two weeks, ending January 4, 2021,” according to a message from the Jamaican government posted on Twitter. It added that the three flights from the UK expected to arrive within the next 24 hours will go into a 48-hour quarantine and have to take polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing.
Paraguay will ban entry to the people who have been in the UK for the last 14 days, the restrictions effective at least until January 4.
“The entry in the country of passengers who have visited the United Kingdom for the last two weeks is prohibited,” the Paraguayan government said on Twitter, explaining that those who have an exceptionally authorized entry must undergo 10-day quarantine.
The Dominican Republic’s civil aviation announced on Twitter that the country is also suspending flights with the UK at least until January 10 with its possible extension.
On Saturday, the UK health authorities announced that the country had identified a new coronavirus strain that was 70 percent more transmissible than known COVID-19. However, there is no evidence that the new strain is more pathogenic.
Earlier this week, almost 50 countries restricted air traffic with the UK to prevent the spread of the mutating coronavirus.