Coronavirus LIVE Updates: US authorities are looking "very carefully" into the virus variant spreading in the United Kingdom, top health officials said Sunday, while indicating that a ban on UK travel was not currently in the cards. The news came as a US expert panel recommended those aged 75 and older should be the next vaccinated against the virus, along with 30 million "frontline essential workers," including teachers, grocery store employees and police. Addressing the virus variant, Moncef Slaoui, chief advisor to the government's Operation Warp Speed vaccine program, told CNN's "State of the Union" that US officials "don't know yet" if it is present in the country. "We are, of course... looking very carefully into this," including at the National Institutes of Health and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he said. At the moment, he said, no strain of the virus appears to be resistant to the vaccines available.
Here are the latest updates on Coronavirus:
• Britain's European neighbours began closing their doors to travellers from the United Kingdom amid alarm about a rapidly spreading strain of coronavirus that has caused cases to soar there. France said it would bar all people coming from the UK for 48 hours from Sunday night, including freight carriers, whether by road, air, sea or rail. Germany, Italy and the Netherlands ordered a suspension of flights from Britain, while Ireland said it would impose restrictions on flights and ferries from its neighbour.
• Dozens of domestic flights due to leave Sydney were cancelled on Monday and authorities issued more health alerts across the city, as Australia battled to contain a fresh COVID-19 outbreak in its largest city four days before Christmas. More than 50 locations including cafes, gyms, casinos and supermarkets across Sydney have been infected so far and authorities urged anyone who had visited the venues to immediately get tested and self-isolate. A new virus cluster, which was detected in Sydney's northern coastal suburbs last week, grew to nearly 70 cases, prompting all other states and territories to close borders to Sydney's 5 million residents, throwing their Christmas travel plans into disarray.
• Top Capitol Hill negotiators sealed a deal Sunday on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package, finally delivering long-overdue help to businesses and individuals and providing money to deliver vaccines to a nation eager for them. The agreement, announced by congressional leaders, would establish a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefit and a $600 direct stimulus payment to most Americans, along with a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses and money for schools, health care providers and renters facing eviction.
• Saudi Arabia on Sunday halted international flights and suspended entry through its land and sea ports for at least a week, after a new fast-spreading strain of coronavirus appeared in Britain. The kingdom is "temporarily suspending all international flights -- except in exceptional cases -- for a period of one week, which can be extended by another week," the official Saudi Press Agency said.