More EU Nations Ban Travel From UK, Fearing COVID-19 Variant

More EU Nations Ban Travel From UK, Fearing COVID-19 Variant
Arriving and departing passengers use the flat escalators at Schiphol Airport, near Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Dec. 18, 2020. Peter Dejong/AP Photo
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BERLIN—A growing list of European Union nations moved to ban flights from the UK on Sunday and others were considering similar action, in a bid to block a new strain of coronavirus sweeping across southern England from spreading to the continent.

France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, and Bulgaria all announced restrictions on UK travel, hours after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that Christmas shopping and gatherings in southern England must be canceled because of rapidly spreading infections blamed on the new coronavirus variant.