World blocks UK over new mutant virus strain



Gatwick Airport on Sunday, as European nations began imposing travel bans (BBC)

Forty countries have blocked air, sea and land travel to and from the United Kingdom. Many European countries, Canada, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, India, and Colombia are among the countries. The reason is because of a new strain of COVID-19 that is spreading around the UK. The new coronavirus is a mutant - this means it has changed from the original virus that started spreading at the beginning of the year. 
 

Some nations have blocked transport links to the UK for a few days; others for at least two weeks. Many countries say they are reviewing the situation. The biggest problems are being caused by a travel ban from France. A lot of the UK's food comes across the English Channel from France.
 

The UK government says the mutant virus is 70 per cent more infectious than the original coronavirus. It said the mutant strain is so fast-spreading that it is "out of control". London and many other parts of the country are now in lockdown. 
 

The government has issued new rules about mixing with other people. This means most people will only be able to spend Christmas with the people they live with. They cannot travel to see any other family members or friends. An opposition leader said: "The news over the last 24 hours has been deeply disturbing. The number of coronavirus cases has nearly doubled in the last week." The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson assured people that there would be enough food.

 

Source: Breaking News English 

Comprehension

How many countries blocked travel to and from the UK?
Where is a new strain of the coronavirus spreading?
What is the longest amount of time countries are blocking the UK?
What are many countries reviewing?
Where does a lot of the UK's food come from?
How much more infectious is the mutant virus?
What did the government say about the spread of the mutant virus?
Who can people in the UK spend Christmas with?
By how much have coronavirus cases increased in the last week?
What did the UK leader say there would be enough of?

Discussion

What can you say about this news?
What do you know about the new strain of coronavirus?
How worried are you about the new strain of coronavirus?
What problems will the travel bans cause the UK?
Would you like to go the UK right now?
Is the world beating the coronavirus?
Are you worried the new strain is 70% more infectious?
How worrying is it the mutant virus is out of control?
How is your country dealing with coronavirus?

Vocabulary

mutant - alteration in the genetic material (the genome) of a cell of a living organism or of a virus that is more or less permanent and that can be transmitted to the cell’s or the virus’s descendants.
infectious - (of a disease or disease-causing organism) likely to be transmitted to people, organisms, etc., through the environment
disturbing - worrying or upsetting