A pedestrian wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past a Christmas-themed display in a shop window on Oxford Street in central London on December 22, 2020. AFP / Tolga Akmen
BRASILIA: Brazil has temporarily suspended incoming flights from Britain and banned any individual who has been in Britain in the past 14 days from entering the country, due to the emergence of a new variant of the COVID-19 virus.
In a note in the official gazette late on Wednesday, Brazil's government said the ban on flights also applied to those originating elsewhere but connecting in Britain, while the ban on individuals applied to all foreign nationals who have been in Britain in the past fortnight.
Individuals entering Brazil who have been in Britain will have to quarantine for 14 days, the government said.
Earlier this week, Britain's Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel to the whole of Brazil based on the latest assessment of COVID-19 risks. (Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu and Jamie McGeever; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
