ISLAMABAD: The aviation division of Pakistan’s cabinet secretariat said on Monday that a temporary restriction was being placed on inbound travelers from the United Kingdom on direct or connecting flights, effective midnight December 22. 

A slew of countries closed their borders to Britain on Monday over fears of a highly infectious new coronavirus strain that has heightened global panic, caused travel chaos and raised the prospect of UK food shortages.

Pakistan, India, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, Jordan and Hong Kong suspended travel for Britons after Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that a mutated variant of the virus, up to 70% more transmissible, had been identified in the country. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman closed their borders completely.

Several other nations have suspended travel from Britain including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Belgium, Israel and Canada - although scientists said the strain may already be circulating in countries with less advanced detection methods than the United Kingdom.

“This restriction will be applicable to all persons who originate travel from the UK and are in or have been in UK over the past 10 days,” the Pakistani aviation division said. “Transit passengers (who do not leave airside in UK) from destinations other than UK will be allowed to travel into Pakistan.”

The circular said Pakistani passport holders who had travelled to the UK on visitor or temporary visas would be allowed to return to Pakistan if they had a negative coronavirus test conducted within 72 hours prior of their flight and would be required to take another test upon arrival in Pakistan.

“Passenger will be required to stay in the airport or in government facility until PCR test is taken,” the circular added, prescribing mandatory enforced home quarantine for seven days. 

The government will review these guidelines on December 28 and communicate any changes to the civil aviation authority, the circular said. 

The discovery of the new strain, just months before vaccines are expected to be widely available, has sowed fresh panic in a pandemic that has killed about 1.7 million people worldwide and more than 67,000 in Britain.

Pakistan recorded 1,792 new coronavirus cases countrywide over the last 24 hours as a second wave of the epidemic gathered momentum, data released on Monday showed. Total deaths in the last 24 hours stood at 62.