Pakistan has decided to suspend all flights from the UK until December 29 after a new strain of the coronavirus emerged in the United Kingdom.

The restriction will be on all direct and indirect flights from the UK, effective December 23 at 12:00am, and will be applicable to all persons who are travelling from the UK and are in or have been in the UK for 10 days.

On the other hand some passengers will be exempted from these restrictions. Transit passengers who do not leave airside in the UK and who were travelling from areas other than the UK will be allowed to travel to Pakistan. Similarly, Pakistani passport holders who travelled to the UK on visitor visas will be allowed to return with the following arrangements:

1. A negative PCR test within 72 hours before the flight
2. They will stay in the airport or in a government facility until the PCR test is taken.
3. Mandatory enforced home quarantine for 7 days
4. Trace and Test all passengers who arrived from the UK over the past 7 days as per TTQ protocol, including passengers arriving on 22 December.

The Pass Tack App, introduced by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), is mandatory for all travellers arriving in Pakistan. Those who do not have it will need to fill out the web form of the Pass Track App.

The passengers who do not have the Pass Track App will need to fill out the web form of the application.

“NCOC will review the above-mentioned decisions on December 28, 2020, and any change will be communicated to CAA for further necessary instructions,” the notification from the  Aviation Division said.

It is important to mention that flights from the UK are being suspended to 40 countries across the world including, Spain, India and Hong Kong.

Other countries to impose a ban on UK arrivals include Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Russia, and Switzerland. Some of the bans are already in force while others are to begin on Tuesday.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) tweeted late on Saturday that it was “in close contact with UK officials on the new #COVID19 virus variant” and promised to update governments and the public as more is learned.

The new strain was identified in southeastern England in September and has been spreading in the area ever since, a WHO official told the BBC on Sunday.

A WHO spokeswoman told AFP that “across Europe, where transmission is intense and widespread, countries need to redouble their control and prevention approaches.”

It is important to note that while increased transmission is proportional to the chances of further mutation, the EU experts do not believe that the mutation should hinder the effectiveness of the vaccines.