US health officials say ‘everything is on the table’ about a possible UK travel ban

WASHINGTON, December 21 (Reuters) – The United States may decide to ban travel from Britain where a new variant of the coronavirus has spread, US Assistant Secretary of Health Brett Giroir said on Monday, but added that no decision had been made.

“I think anything is possible. We just need to put everything on the table, have an open scientific discussion and make the best recommendations,” he told CNN. He said the White House coronavirus task force would meet on Monday night.

Many countries have suspended travel for Britons, including northern US neighbor Canada, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a mutated variant of the virus that was up to 70% more infectious had been identified in the country. Read more

The US does not know if the variant has reached American shores, Giroir said.

“It was identified in September. So a lot of round trips. In general, the typical tests that we do to detect the virus, except for very specific ones, will not show this variant,” he said. “It could be in the United States and we may not have detected it yet.”

Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Susan Heavey; Edited by Toby Chopra

Our standard: The Thomson Reuters Principles of Trust.

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