UK PM Johnson urged to impose blanket COVID-19 border controls amid new mutation threats

British PM Boris Johnson is facing increasing pressure from cabinet ministers and scientists to impose blanket border control measures against coronavirus instead of his preferred option of a targeted approach. Top experts in the country, earlier warned that current measure was not enough to prevent new, highly contagious mutations from entering the country. In addendum, the country’s health secretary Matt Hancock also expressed concerns about the possibility of approved vaccines failing to work on new mutations.

According to The Guardian, British ministers are set to meet on January 26, to weigh up merits and demerits of a border policy that could require new arrivals, including British citizens, to quarantine at their own expense in government-supervised hotels. The Prime Minister and transport secretary Grant Shapps have argued in the favor of a targeted approach that would restrict travellers only from countries of South Africa and Brazil, where new strain was discovered earlier his month. On the other hand, Hancock and home secretary Priti Patel have spoken in favour of tougher restrictions.

'to safeguard vaccinations' 

Patel, citing scientific data, had called for the complete closure of international borders. She had said that a “decisive effort” was a need on the part of the British government to safeguard the advances the British authority have made in inoculating people. Highlighting the perils of infection caused by anyone who slipped through targeted measures, Patel has now called for blanketed measures.

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Meanwhile, health secretary Matt Hancock warned that coronavirus vaccines may be less effective against new variants of the disease. Two new mutations of SARS-CoV-2 were discovered earlier this month-one in South Africa and other in Brazil. While the UK has imposed stringent lockdown and strict border restrictions to curb the spread of discovered variants, Hancock warned that there could be more undiscovered, lethal COVID-19 strains.

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However, he justified border closures and said that the country needs a “precautionary principle” that says “let’s not bring these new variants back to the UK.” Speaking in an interview with Sky News, the health secretary also expressed his concern for new variants developing elsewhere in the world.

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