Sunday, the Minister of Health Nathir Obeidat said that the Jordanian government is studying all developments in the countries where the new strain of coronavirus is emerging: Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, and Australia.

Several countries have shut their borders to these nations to prevent the mutated strain from entering their borders.

-COVID-19 boom-

In light of the mutated COVID-19 strain, several countries have been taking further precautionary measures in order to keep the new coronavirus strain outside of their borders.

The Israeli Occupation Minister of Health Yuli Edelstein is hoping to close Ben Gurion Airport due to the “Corona boom” in Britain.

According to media sources Sunday, when asked about airport closures, Edelstein said, “I hope so, because time is critical. What we don’t do immediately, in the coming hours, will be too late to do later.”

Additionally, other than Britain, the occupation will most likely decide to prevent foreigners from Australia, Denmark and Brazil from entering as well, according to Ma’an News.

Returnees from the aforementioned countries may be required to remain in isolation in COVID-19-dedicated hotels, not in home isolation.

Adding to the matter, the Israeli Occupation’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “stop all flights from all over the world.”

A decision on closing the airport is expected today.

The Israeli Occupation government is closely studying genetic tests of returnees from the United Kingdom - where more than 1,000 cases of the virus have been diagnosed with the new mutation in recent days - as well as from other European countries. According to reports, it is not clear whether the current vaccines available are effective against the new strain or not.

The Director of the Infectious Diseases Department at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Galia Rahav explained that the new strain could become more infectious: “This change could theoretically cause this virus to become more infectious. There is already more and more evidence of transmission of this virus, but there is no evidence that it is more dangerous or could cause more serious diseases."

According to Rahav, 62 percent of cases in London today are linked to the mutation, and such cases have also been found in South Africa and Australia. "The big question that arises here is whether the COVID-19 tests today reveal [this] virus, and the question is whether the vaccine [can prevent] this virus.”

She indicated that a vaccine could also be developed for this new strain if the current vaccine does not prove to be effective against it.

-EU-

Germany also stopped flights to Britain and South Africa in attempts to prevent the virus from entering their borders.

Additionally Sunday, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Kuwait will be stopping all flights and trains from Britain.

The Dutch government has decided that the flight suspension will take effect from Sunday 6:00 pm until Jan. 1.

The Dutch Ministry of Health announced their intentions to discuss with other member states of the EU the possibilities of reducing the risks of transmission of the new strain of COVID-19 from the UK.

The Netherlands is currently imposing a lockdown for five weeks until mid-January, with schools and non-essential stores closed, in order to curb the spread of the virus.