KRG ‘closely monitors’ returnees from UK amid new COVID-19 strain: statement

Any recent returnee from the UK “should be closely monitored at all the border crossings and airports.”

Halgurd Sherwani 2020/12/21 13:23

A COVID-19 treatment center in the Kurdistan Region's Erbil province. (Photo: Archive)

Kurdistan COVID-19 Kurdistan Region United Kingdom

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s health ministry announced on Monday that it had informed health offices across its borders to take precautions and “closely monitor” any returnee who is known to have recently visited Britain, according to a statement, as a new variant of COVID-19 emerged in the United Kingdom.

The preparations by the regional health authorities come as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently announced that a new variant of COVID-19, which is “70 percent more transmissible” than the previous strains, have emerged in the southern part of the country, forcing the area into a lockdown.

Any recent returnee from the UK “should be closely monitored at all the border crossings and airports,” a statement from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Health Ministry read on Monday.

The precautions against the new strain would be similar to the ones that have been undertaken for the previous strain of COVID-19 as there is much uncertainty around the new variant, Aso Hawezi, a health ministry spokesperson, told Kurdistan 24 on Monday.

“There is much uncertainty around the new strain even in the UK, so we cannot scientifically say what test should be done to determine the new variant,” Hawezi added.

Immediately after the British prime minister’s remarks, many European, Asian, and North American countries halted their flights to the kingdom in a bid to prevent the transmission of the new strain, including the Netherlands, India, Belgium, and Canada.

The new variant of the virus was first detected in September in the UK, according to the BBC. In mid-December, the number of detected cases with the new strain reached “two-thirds,” the British media said.

The KRG was an early responder to the COVID-19 pandemic, introducing precautions at its borders and imposing lockdowns. As of Monday, the Kurdistan Region has recorded over 101,000 cases, over 3,300 deaths, and more than 66,000 recoveries.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany