The Scottish Government has announced a ban on non-UK citizens coming from Denmark amid concerns over a new coronavirus strain.
It comes as the UK Government is also imposing immigration powers against foreign visitors from Denmark in the wake of widespread outbreaks of coronavirus in the country’s mink farms.
All non-British national or resident travellers who have been in or transited through Denmark in the last 14 days will be denied entry into the UK.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon: Postal voting will play key role in Holyrood election
Denmark was added to Scotland’s travel quarantine list, with Nicola Sturgeon announcing the move at the Scottish Government’s coronavirus briefing on Friday, minutes before it came into effect at 12.30pm.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “These steps are a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of a variant strain of coronavirus which we are still in the early stages of learning about. The decision has been taken on clinical advice to help further safeguard public health and keep communities safe.”
A new strain of Covid that has come from mink in Denmark is causing concern. If you are a UK resident returning home from Denmark you - and your household - MUST isolate for 14 days. Visitors from Denmark are not able to enter the UK at all for now. https://t.co/FJS6qHRq4S
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) November 7, 2020
Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith said: “This is a new strain and it is appropriate that we err on the side of caution. We do not want to see transmission of this strain in this country and it is imperative that anybody who has recently travelled from Denmark, and their household, should self-isolate for 14 days and follow the guidance laid out by the Scottish Government. If needed, they should contact NHS 24.”
The Danish government said a mutation of the coronavirus had been found in 12 people infected by minks, which farmers have been ordered to cull en masse, but experts said the significance of any variant strain and its effect on humans was unclear because it was yet to be studied.
Denmark is the world’s largest mink fur exporter and produces an estimated 17 million furs per year.
READ MORE: Coronavirus Scotland: Fife could be set for Level 3 restrictions
The Danish government has ordered the cull of all 15 million minks bred in the country’s 1,139 mink farms.
British nationals or residents who are returning to the UK either directly or indirectly from the country are now required to self-isolate along with all other members of their household, until two weeks have passed since they were last there.
A spokeswoman from the UK Department for Transport said: “Unlike other travel to the UK, there will be no exemptions to this quarantine policy.
“Anyone who has returned from Denmark within the last two weeks will be contacted to ensure they complete the self-isolation needed to ensure the virus does not spread across the UK.
“The UK Government is working closely with international partners to understand the changes in the virus that have been reported in Denmark and we are conducting a programme of further research here in the UK to inform our risk assessments.”
The travel ban and extra requirements will be reviewed after a week, the department added.
“Decisions on border measures and travel advice can be changed rapidly if necessary to help stop the spread of the disease and further announcements regarding freight will be made later today,” the spokeswoman said.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel