Coronavirus: Boris Johnson 'under pressure' to close UK borders

Boris Johnson is reportedly under pressure to close the borders to foreign visitors.

According to the Daily Telegraph, some ministers want the UK to tighten restrictions further to stop the spread of coronavirus.

It comes as a number of new faster-moving strains are being brought in from abroad, making it harder to control the spread.

Asked about calls to close all borders to foreign visitors, Environment Secretary George Eustice told Sky News today: "We always keep these things under review.

"And it has been considered.

"There is concern at the moment about the number of mutant strains."

It comes after Boris Johnson yesterday defended coronavirus measures at the border after it emerged Home Secretary Priti Patel lobbied for tougher restrictions during the early stages of the pandemic.

Ms Patel's comments, made to the Conservative Friends of India group, are contrary to her public defence of the Government's decision not to enact a full arrivals shutdown.

Ms Patel was reported as telling the group: "On 'should we have closed our borders earlier', the answer is yes. I was an advocate of closing them last March."

In mid-March, the UK abandoned asking people to quarantine for two weeks after arriving from areas with high infection rates, such as Hubei province in China and Italy.

The decision was in contrast to many other countries, such as New Zealand, which has been widely praised for getting the pandemic under control, partly through strict quarantine measures for arrivals.