Kent lorry chaos could get WORSE: Officials are performing as few as 200 tests an hour - meaning 10,000 stranded truckers could take DAYS to clear threatening food shortages after clashes with police and blockades
Truckers try to force their way past police guarding Port of Dover as hundreds leave cabs and walk along road
Jeering and whistling with some shouting: Open the border , We just want to go home and F you, Boris!
France announced travel ban on all traffic from UK on Sunday night after emergence of new Covid-19 strain
Decision meant Port of Dover was dramatically closed to all freight vehicles leaving the UK for next 48 hours
Testing, testing! UK and France wrangle over screening regime for truckers to get Dover moving again after Brussels calls for end to border blockade as 4,000 more lorries head for Kent carpark
France announced travel ban on all traffic from UK on Sunday night after emergence of new Covid-19 strain
Decision meant Port of Dover was dramatically closed to all freight vehicles leaving the UK for next 48 hours
UK and France still trying to agree on measures to reopen the border as hundreds of lorries queue in Kent
EU today urged European nations to drop travel bans on UK but said travel to Britain should be discouraged
All passengers from the UK flying anywhere in America will now need a negative Covid result to board any Virgin Atlantic flight - but may find it harder after one of the terminal s testing labs was partially shut by a plumbing issue .
In a further deepening of the crisis engulfing the country, the airline said it needed people to take a negative LAMP or PCR Covid-19 test to travel.
It is currently running jets to New York-JFK, Los Angeles, Miami, Boston and Atlanta at the moment and the move is an escalation from yesterday s developments.
Virgin hailed its partnership with Heathrow rapid testing lab Collinson as it confirmed the news this morning.
Boris Johnson plans to test ALL lorry drivers taking goods across Channel in bid to appease Macron - after blustering through pointless press conference without giving a single answer about when truckers will be allowed into France
Port of Dover in Kent was dramatically closed to all freight vehicles leaving the UK for the next 48 hours
Hauliers coming to UK will still be allowed but there are fears drivers won t travel to avoid being marooned
Countries including France, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Poland have announced restrictions on UK travel
Comes after emergence of mutant strain of coronavirus in England which spreads quicker than predecessor
AP Photo/Frank Augstein
On December 20, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced an unprecedented Tier-4 lockdown due to a new strain of COVID-19. This will increase the rules for the Christmas holiday and completely shut down some areas of the country. Travel restrictions are in place inside the U.K., yet international travel has not been restricted from other areas.
The purported reason: This new strain of COVID-19, discovered in September, is 70% more contagious than the previous version of the virus. According to Sky News:
The action was prompted by the government’s fears over a new strain of coronavirus – known as VUI 2020/01 – which is believed to spread more quickly than the original strain and is judged to be the reason for rapidly rising infection rates in the South East.