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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
World
Lottie Gibbons

Government considering closing Britain's border to stop further spread of new coronavirus strains

The Government is considering closing Britain's borders to all foreign visitors as new coronavirus variants emerge.

On Monday, the Government closed the travel corridors scheme that exempted arrivals from having to quarantine if they arrived from countries deemed safe.

Now all international arrivals must test negative for coronavirus up to 72 hours before departure, and self-isolate for up to 10 days.

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However, according to a Government minister, more drastic measures are being considered to halt the spread of the virus.

Environment Secretary George Eustice told Sky News: "We need everybody to play their part, to abide by the restrictions we have got in place to limit the spread of this virus.

"And, yes, that does mean we have to intervene, sometimes in quite a draconian way and issue penalties, and we make no apology for doing that because you can see the impacts of this virus spreading."

He added: "The lockdown will end once we have made further progress on rolling out the vaccines.

"Just shy of five million people have been vaccinated, as of yesterday."

Enter your postcode below to find the latest figures where you live

Asked about calls to close all borders to foreign visitors, Mr Eustice told Sky News: "We always keep these things under review.

"And it has been considered.

"There is concern at the moment about the number of mutant strains."

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