Flights from Europe suspended until January 21

Peru has decided to suspend flights from Europe until January 21 to avoid the arrival of passengers potentially infected with the new strain of coronavirus. The government confirmed its decision on Wednesday.

The measure was initially taken on December 21 for two weeks. The Peruvian Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) has decided to extend it for an additional 15 days, in order to “reduce the risk of contagion due to the possible entry into the territory of people infected with the new variant” of Covid-19 .

Strains may already be present

This suspension does not affect flights from Lima to Europe. The airline Air France has therefore announced that it is maintaining its flight to Paris, scheduled for January 8. In addition to the air restriction, the government has banned the entry into Peru of non-resident aliens who have passed through the UK since the appearance of the new strain of Covid.

So far, no cases of infection with the two new variants of the coronavirus, which have emerged in the UK and South Africa, have been reported in the country. “This does not mean that we do not have it, because it is already in Chile and it is very contagious”, warned the Minister of Health. Peru has been strongly affected by the pandemic and had 37,900 deaths and 1,022,018 cases on Tuesday.