Argentina, Chile, and Colombia joined a raft of other countries that took action on Sunday to stop flights from Britain due to concerns over a new, highly contagious variant of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Argentina will “suspend arrivals and departures to and from Britain as a precaution from tomorrow,” the interior ministry in Buenos Aires wrote in a statement Sunday evening.

A single flight from Britain expected for Monday morning has been allowed to land at Buenos Aires International Airport.

Passengers and crew will be kept in quarantine for seven days.

The Colombian government also decided on Sunday to no longer allow flights to and from Britain from Monday, President Ivan Duque wrote on Twitter.

Accordingly, passengers who have arrived in the past eight days must be quarantined.

According to a statement, the Chilean government decided to suspend direct flights to and from Britain from Tuesday.

Foreigners who do not have permanent residence in Chile and have been in Britain in the past two weeks are also not allowed to enter. Chileans and foreigners who have a permanent residence must be in a 14-day quarantine.

The new mutation is up to 70 per cent more contagious than the previously known form, according to British authorities.

To tamp down the spread, Britain announced a new lockdown for London and parts of south and eastern England starting Sunday and over the Christmas period.

The measures affect 16 million people.

Vanguard