UK in crisis over virus travel bans as US nears stimulus deal

Britain's government said Sunday it would hold a crisis meeting after countries worldwide banned arrivals from the UK over a new highly infectious coronavirus strain it said was "out of control", as the WHO called for stronger containment measures. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was to chair the COBR emergencies committee on Monday, his Downing Street office said, after a slew of nations from Sweden to Turkey blocked arrivals from Britain by air and crucial transit country France moved to block people and goods crossing the Channel. COBR would "discuss the situation regarding international travel, in particular the steady flow of freight into and out of the UK," a Downing Street spokesman added. The ban on all but unaccompanied freight travelling crossing to France comes as companies are scrambling to shift merchandise with days to go until Britain finally quits EU trade structures in the wake of Brexit. Late Sunday, Britain's critical south coast port at Dover said it was closing to all accompanied freight and passengers due to the French border restrictions "until further notice". Alarm bells were ringing across Europe -- which last week became the first region in the world to pass 500,000 deaths from Covid-19 since the pandemic broke out a year ago -- as the new, even more infectious strain of the virus appeared to be raging in parts of Britain.<br/>