Italy reported a patient with the same coronavirus new strain which the UK said is "out of control", the variant which is behind a severe increase in infections across London and southeast England. The identified patient and his partner had been in the UK and returned on a flight at Rome's Fiumicino airport earlier this week, the Italian health ministry said. 

The ministry`s statement quoted by the Sputnik, "The patient and their partner returned from the United Kingdom several days ago, landing in Rome`s Fiumicino airport. They are now isolated and have observed, together with family and close contacts, all procedures proscribed by the health authorities". As per the communication, the genome of the UK coronavirus strain has been established by experts of the Celio military hospital in Rome. The new strain of Covid-19 is "out of control", said UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Sunday. 

Matt Hancock added, "The only way you can do that is by restricting social contacts and essentially, especially in Tier 4 areas, everybody needs to behave as if they may well have the virus and that is the way that we can get it under control and keep people safe". According to a new agency, Italy Foreign Affairs Minister Luigi Di Malo on Sunday informed that the country suspend flights to and from the UK due to the new strain of the coronavirus, although he did not provide more details. Various other European countries halted flights from and to UK in order to minimise the risk of the new strain from spreading in the country as much as possible, according to a press release. 

Italy orders Christmas lockdown to combat covid-19

Virtual Santa due to the Pandemic, Spain

Angela Merkel urges Germans to see each other by video calls this Christmas