This Nov 23, 2020 file photo shows passengers from Melbourne arriving at Sydney Airport, Australia. (DEAN LEWINS / AAP IMAGE VIA AP)

SINGAPORE - Australia said on Monday it had detected cases of the new fast- spreading  coronavirus strain identified in the United Kingdom, while India said it would suspend flights from Britain.

Two travellers from the United Kingdom to Australia’s New South Wales state were found carrying the mutated variant of the virus that Britain has said could be up to 70 percent more infectious. Both are in hotel quarantine, and the recent spike in infections in Sydney is not linked to this, authorities said.

Australia axed dozens of domestic flights while New South Wales locked down more than 250,000 people.

“2020 is not done with us yet,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

The new strain has prompted Britain’s European neighbors and several others including Canada and Iran to close their doors to travellers from the country.

The new strain could be up to 70 percent more infectious, the United Kingdom has said, prompting its European neighbours and several other countries including Canada and Iran to close their doors to travellers from the country

Asian nations including Japan and South Korea said they were monitoring the new strain even as they battle a rise in infections at home.

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The ban will come into effect on Wednesday and all passengers arriving from Britain before then will be tested on arrival at airports, India’s federal aviation ministry said in a series of tweets.

Britain is one of the 23 countries that India shares an “air bubble” with, as part of temporary bilateral arrangements after regular international flights were suspended after the pandemic hit.

India, which has the second-highest number of cases after the United States, does not currently mandate institutional quarantine for international travellers if they have a negative COVID-19 test result 72 hours before entering India.

ALSO READ: COVID-19: S. Africa identifies new strain causing surge in cases

The Saudi decision comes after the UK warned that a new strain of the coronavirus is “out of control.” United Arab Emirates-based Air Arabia PJSC said Monday it will halt flights from Morocco to the UK until further notice.

Oman also halted passenger traffic through its air, land and sea ports for a week starting Tuesday, but freight services are exempt from the ban.

Much is unknown about the strain, but experts said current vaccines should still be effective against it. 

South Korea, which imposes a 14 day quarantine for everyone entering the country, said on Monday it was reviewing new measures for flights from the UK, and would test twice those coming in from Britain before they were released from quarantine.

Japan, where entry from Britain is already banned in principle, said it would keep in close touch with other countries as well as the World Health Organization to see how the new type of virus was spreading.

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