Countries Ban Travel From U.K. in Race to Block New Covid-19 Strain

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The travel restrictions, following the identification of the new strain earlier this week, mark fresh setbacks in efforts to combat the deadly coronavirus despite the beginning of vaccinations over recent days.

The Netherlands moved first, banning all passenger flights from the U.K. until Jan. 1. Belgium quickly followed, banning flights and rail arrivals of the Eurostar train line, beginning midnight Sunday, initially for 24 hours.

“This is a precautionary measure and we will see later if we need additional measures,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told Belgian broadcaster RTBF Sunday. Both countries continued to allow ferry crossings but with increased controls on passengers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein convened a special cabinet meeting Sunday to consider an immediate ban on travelers from the U.K., Denmark and South Africa, where indications of the new strain have also emerged, Mr. Netanyahu’s official webpage said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a press conference Saturday that scientists believe the new variant could be as much as 70% more transmissible than more established strains. He said there is no evidence it is any more deadly or resistant to vaccines, despite its faster transmission from person to person.

In response to the discovery, Mr. Johnson imposed a fresh lockdown on London and nearby areas of southeastern and eastern England. The new measures include a ban on households mixing at Christmas.

The new strain of the virus accounted for 62% of the new cases identified in London in the week through Wednesday. The Dutch government said Sunday it had also discovered through examination of a Covid-19 case from early this month that the strain was present in the Netherlands.

“Following the latest reports from the U.K., this case is being investigated further,” a Dutch government statement said.

The U.K. reported its discovery of the new strain Monday and has already notified the World Health Organization.

The Dutch government plans over coming days to confer with other governments of the European Union to “explore the scope for further limiting the risk of the new strain of the virus being brought over from the U.K.,” the statement said.

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said later Sunday that Italy, too, would be banning flights from the U.K., though he did not specify when the ban would go into effect.

“The U.K. has raised the alarm about a new form of Covid resulting from a mutation in the virus,” Mr. Di Maio wrote on his Facebook page. “Our priority is to protect Italy and our compatriots.” Belgium and the Netherlands have recently seen an acceleration of the speed at which the coronavirus spreads. Both countries last month brought a fall surge in virus cases down, though not to low levels achieved in summer, after the first wave.

The U.K. reported 27,052 new daily infections Saturday, taking the total number of known cases in Britain to more than 2 million. There are currently almost 19,000 people in the hospital with Covid-19, and the country has reported more than 400 deaths a day on average during the past seven days.

The U.K. earlier this month became the first Western country to begin vaccinating people with a clinically approved vaccine. Mr. Johnson said 350,000 people had now received shots. That compared with more than 137,000 on Dec. 15.

EU officials expect this week to approve the same vaccine and begin administering it on Dec. 27.

Patrick Vallance, the British government’s chief scientific adviser, said Saturday that the new strain had already displaced earlier ones in parts of England. “This virus is taking off, it’s moving fast and it’s leading inevitably to a sharp increase in hospital admissions,” he said.

—Francis X. Rocca in Rome contributed to this article

Write to Daniel Michaels at daniel.michaels@wsj.com