/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/C2X3J6H4RZOMBMTVF347IZ3YOI.jpg "US health official says ‘everything is on the table’ over possible UK travel ban")
WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (Reuters) – The United States may decide to ban travel from the United Kingdom where a new variant of the coronavirus has spread, U.S. Undersecretary of Health Brett Giroir said on Monday, but he added that nothing had been decided yet.
“I think anything is possible. We just have to put it all on the table, have an open scientific discussion, and make the best recommendation,” he told CNN. He said the White House coronavirus task force would meet later Monday.
A host of countries have suspended travel for Britons, including the US’s northern neighbor Canada, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a mutated variant of the virus up to 70% more infectious had been identified in the country. Read more
The United States does not know if the variant reached US shores, Giroir said.
“It was identified in September. So there’s been a lot of back and forth. Typically, the typical tests we do for the virus, except for one very specific one, wouldn’t show this variant.” , did he declare. “It could be in the United States and we might not have detected it yet.”
Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Susan Heavey; Editing by Toby Chopra
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