Travellers wearing face coverings walk with their luggage in the almost deserted departures hall at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport in west London on December 21, 2020, as a string of countries around the world banned travellers arriving from the UK, due to the rapid spread of a new, more-infectious coronavirus strain. (NIKLAS HALLE'N / AFP)

DOVER, England - A slew of countries closed their borders to Britain on Monday over fears of a highly infectious new coronavirus strain, heightening global panic, causing travel chaos and raising the prospect of UK food shortages days before the Brexit cliff edge.

India, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, and Jordan suspended travel for Britons after Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that a mutated variant of the virus, up to 70 percent more transmissible, had been identified in the country. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman closed their borders completely.

India, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, and Jordan suspended travel for Britons after Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that a mutated variant of the virus, up to 70 percent more transmissible, had been identified in the country. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman closed their borders completely

Several other nations have suspended travel from Britain including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Belgium, Israel and Canada - although scientists said the strain may already be circulating in countries with less advanced detection methods than the United Kingdom.

The discovery of the new strain came just months before vaccines are expected to be widely available, sowing fresh panic in a pandemic that has killed about 1.7 million people worldwide and more than 67,000 in Britain.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo urged the US government to take steps to prevent the new strain entering the country, which has been worst hit by COVID-19 with almost 318,000 deaths.

ALSO READ: Travel pain spreads as Europe blocks UK flights on virus fears

US Assistant Health Secretary Brett Giroir said nothing had yet been decided on any travel ban. As the pandemic accelerates there, Congress was poised to vote on a US$900 billion COVID-19 stimulus package, after months of inaction.

EU officials met via video to coordinate their response to the new strain of the coronavirus. The bloc is on course to start COVID-19 vaccinations within a week after its medicines regulator approved the use of a shot from Pfizer and BioNTech on Monday.

France shut its border to arrivals of people and trucks from Britain, closing off one of the most important trade arteries with mainland Europe.

As families and truck drivers tried to navigate the travel bans to get back home in time for Christmas, British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s said shortages would start to appear within days if transport ties were not quickly restored.

ALSO READ: UK's Hancock says new COVID-19 mutation 'out of control’

France’s FNTR national road haulage federation said: “No driver wants to deliver to the UK now, so the UK is going to see its freight supply dry up.”

‘Sick Man of Europe’

The global alarm was reflected in financial markets.

European shares slumped, with travel and leisure stocks bearing the brunt of the pain. The British pound tumbled 2.5 percent against the dollar, and was on course for its biggest one-day drop since March, while the yield on two-year UK government bonds hit a record low.

Britain’s tabloids bemoaned the crisis.

“Sick Man of Europe”, the Daily Mirror newspaper said on its front page beside a picture of Johnson while the Sun newspaper said “French show no merci”.

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

The new variant and restrictions in Britain compound the chaos as the country prepares to finally part ways with the European Union, possibly without a trade deal, when the Brexit transition period ends at 2300 GMT on Dec 31.

The new variant, which scientists said was 40 percent to 70 percent more transmissible, is rapidly become the dominant strain in parts of southern England, including London.

Experts stressed, though, that there was no evidence that vaccines, including the Pfizer-BioNTech one being deployed in Britain, would not protect against this variant.

Cases of the new strain have also been in detected in some other countries, including Italy and the Netherlands.

Some scientists said the prevalence discovered in Britain might be down to detection.

“Britain is simply the country which finds these mutations the most because they are looking for them more. There are countries that hardly search or do not search at all,” Marc Van Ranst, a virologist from the Rega Institute for Medical Research in Belgium, told Belgian broadcaster VRT.

READ MORE: Merkel ties pandemic exit to immunization rates of over 60%

The new strain has been identified at a time when COVID-19 cases have surged in several Asian countries that had previously contained the pandemic, prompting tough restrictions.

Thailand extended curbs on movement and said it was testing tens of thousands of people following its worst outbreak yet.