Mexico announced that it will keep its borders open to the entry of flights from the United Kingdom, where a new strain of Covid-19 was detected.
This Sunday, December 20th, several European countries announced the suspension of flights from England. This in response to the new strain of coronavirus detected in that country, more contagious than the previous ones.
In the last hours, several Latin American countries have joined the preventive measure.
Last night, during the press conference on the situation of the coronavirus in Mexico, Dr. José Luis Alomía Zegarra, director-general of Epidemiology, said that vigilance will be maintained on the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
“We are going to be very attentive to the positions issued by the WHO, to the data issued by the European Union in the following days,” said Alomía. “This variant has not been found to cause more serious disease, let alone more lethal compared to other variants,” he added.
However, the official confirmed that the new strain of coronavirus has already been detected in the United States and Brazil.
That same Sunday, around 9 p.m., a direct flight from London by British Airways landed at Terminal 1 of the Mexico City International Airport (AICM).
Santiago Argüero de Buen, AICM social communication manager, said that the corresponding sanitary protocols will be implemented for this flight, just like the rest of the arrivals. In statements to Forbes, he added that the Federal Ministry of Health (SSA) is in charge of establishing health protocols for these cases, so it is up to the corresponding authority to issue regulations in this regard.
On Monday, December 21st, in his morning conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador pointed out that the Mexican government is analyzing whether it will cancel flights from the United Kingdom or not.
“The case is analyzed and, if it deserves it, decisions will be made,” said López Obrador in his usual morning press conference. He also revealed that the matter was discussed early with the secretary and undersecretary of Health, with whom he coordinates the response to the pandemic.
According to data from the British Airways page, more than 40 flights from the UK will land in Mexico, most of them destined for CDMX and Cancun.
Source: SIPSE