SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's health authorities said on Wednesday that the country will suspend flights coming from and heading to Britain till the end of this year to contain the spread of a new COVID-19 variant found in the European nation.

Yoon Tae-ho, a senior official at the health ministry, told a press briefing that flights from and to Britain will be halted from Wednesday through Dec. 31 to prevent the inflow of the new COVID-19 strain discovered in Britain.

Under the new measures, all entrants from Britain will be placed in a 14-day quarantine, and will be forced to take an additional virus test when the quarantine is lifted.

The new COVID-19 variant, reported in Britain, is known to have been more contagious.

For the past two months, a total of 15 entrants arriving from Britain have tested positive for the virus, including 11 South Koreans and four foreigners.