Those serial lockdowns were necessary, she said, because Britain never properly cut off international travel — a major culprit for spread of the highly transmissible delta variant, which originated in India. With the delta variant now popping up there, Australians are discovering the downside of their fortress strategy and are experiencing another lockdown of state borders 16 months into the pandemic. Germany and Italy require arrivals from Britain to quarantine, while the United States still bans most British passport holders. Frustrated travel executives point out that Britain has been harder hit by the delta variant than other European countries, although the gap is narrowing. “Freedom Day” was originally scheduled for June 21; Johnson postponed it four weeks amid signs that the delta variant was turbocharging cases.

Source: bd News24 July 03, 2021 08:15 UTC