LONDON: All travellers to Britain will need pre-departure coronavirus tests, the government said Friday, as it tries to curb spiralling infection rates that are stretching health services to the limit.
Fears are growing about fast-spreading new variants of the virus, particularly from South Africa, with concerns hospitals could be overwhelmed.
In London, Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a major incident, saying the British capital was “at crisis point” and urgent action was required as beds for Covid patients could run out within weeks.
At the same time, the UK regulator approved US firm Moderna’s Covid vaccine — the third to be authorised for use in the country’s mass inoculation programme.
The announcement came with Britain under a renewed lockdown to try to cut spiralling infection rates and deaths blamed on a fast-spreading virus variant.
A total of 1,162 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test were recorded on Thursday — the highest since the first-wave peak in April last year.
Overall, nearly 79,000 people have died and some 2.9 million people have been infected.
Stay-at-home restrictions, which include school closures, are expected to last until at least mid-February.
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