With the rapid spread of the omicron variant, France announced this Thursday (16) that it will ban most trips to the UK or arriving from the country, at a time when the British set a record for coronavirus infections.
Thus, Great Britain joins the list of destinations not recommended by the French government, such as Brazil, Costa Rica and Cuba, as well as southern African nations. The British reported today the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, with 88,376 new infections — surpassing the previous day’s mark.
The French government announced that it will only allow trips for essential reasons from midnight on Saturday (20:00 on Friday, BrasÃlia time), such as student exchanges or in the event of the death of family members. The restriction applies above all to travel for tourism or work.
British citizens residing in France and their families will be able to return from the UK and vice versa, as well as residents of other European Union countries who must pass through French territory to reach their homes.
To enter France, travelers, vaccinated or not, must meet other requirements, such as presenting a negative test done less than 24 hours and reporting an address, where they will have to remain in isolation for seven days.
The quarantine could be suspended after 48 hours if a test already carried out on French soil turns out to be negative, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said of the measure that will take effect six days before Christmas. “The government is asking those intending to go to the UK to postpone their trip,” he said.
The decision “will obviously change people’s plans, which is regrettable,” said Gillian Keegan, secretary of state at the British Ministry of Health.
“These last-minute changes distress me. They make you feel like a hostage,” London resident Marie Geoffroy, 43, complained in an interview with AFP news agency, before catching a train to France at London’s St Pancras station.
There will also be impacts on tourism. “[A restrição] it deprives us of 25% of our clientele in a normal year,” said Fançois Badjily, of the Tourist Office at the Alpe d’Huez ski resort in the south-east of the country.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the micron should be “the dominant variant in Europe by mid-January”.
France has so far detected 240 cases of the new strain, but the number is probably higher, according to Attal, who justified the new restrictions as a way to stop the spread while the country accelerates vaccination with booster doses.
The country, where 71% of the population has completed the immunization cycle, is approaching 50,000 infections a day and should announce new restrictive measures this Friday (17).
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