UK bans arrivals from all South American countries

The United Kingdom has banned arrivals from all South American countries and Portugal because of a new variant of coronavirus found in Brazil.

The rules, which came into effect on Friday morning, do not apply to British or Irish nationals, or those who have residency in the UK, transport minister Grant Shapps.

Nationals and residents who do return will have to quarantine for ten days.

Portuguese transport drivers delivering essential goods to the UK are exempt from the rules.

Shapps justified the addition of Portugal in the ban due to "its great links with Brazil."

The Portuguese foreign minister, Augusto Santos Silva, called the UK's decision "absurd" and "without logic" in an account with Diario de Noticias newspaper.

He said there was no evidence that the variant discovered in Brazil was circulating in Portugal.

The new exception was found in travelers who arrived in Japan from the South American country, with Japanese experts announcing its discovery on January 10.

The variant is different from the one which was created in England and reported in Europe, which led to various countries taking measures to stop travel from the UK.

Brazil temporarily suspended escapes from or via the UK from Christmas day over concerns over this variant, which is believed to be at least 50% more contagious than the original.

Along with another variant found in South Africa, the Brazil variant is the latest virus development incidence.

The UK is the first country in the world to start mass vaccination of its people.

India has also begun its vaccination drive where health workers and other essential workers will be immunized in India made Bharat Biotech's vaccine.

Indian vaccination drive is considered to be the world's largest, where initially over 3 billion people will be vaccinated with the Indian vaccination, which is being criticized because of lack of data.