A British cabinet minister tried to calm down France Due to the threat of the Beta variant of the coronavirus, stricter international restrictions have been imposed on millions of travelers.
Secretary of Transportation Grant Shapps (Grant Shapps) Decided to include France on the “Amber Plus” listThe Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Thursday that the spread of the variant on the French overseas territory of Réunion in the Indian Ocean was part of the reason.
This move-which means that fully vaccinated people entering the UK from France cannot avoid isolation and must self-isolate for up to 10 days- Aroused the anger of the French authorities And those who live or vacation across the Strait.
A French congressman recently criticized these additional restrictions as neither scientific nor logical, summarizing them as “Kafka and Godot going on holiday”, and the country’s Europe The minister described the change as “frankly, incomprehensible for health reasons” and discriminatory.
The British Minister and the United Biosafety Centre-which advises on the Covid situation in countries around the world-faced further pressure on Thursday when they were accused by the Statistics Regulatory Office of “not having clear data and sources” to justify drastic action.
According to the Global Initiative for Sharing Avian Influenza Data, Reunion Island has 1,023 Beta cases, which accounts for about one-third of the 2,974 cases found in mainland France.
Raab stated that the situation on Reunion Island-still on the normal amber list-is part of the reason for restricting travel from France, saying that this is “not an important distance” but “the travel between any different components” Convenience”. Individual countries”.
But Schaps told LBC that Reunion Island is only “part of the story” and that the decision was made “because cases actually occurred in France”, especially in the north. He said the government has always followed the “safety first approach” because he is anxious not to “cancel all the excellent work done in vaccination.”
He added: “The government has been acting cautiously… we are right to do this.”
Government sources said that France may be removed from the Amber list in a statement announced next Thursday, which will take effect next Monday, August 9. Although Spain-which has seen a 14.2% increase in Beta cases in the past four weeks-is at risk of entering the “Amber Plus” list.
The Labour Party stated that the ministers were “helpless in trying to explain their decision” and stated that if they “misunderstood the statistics of the French mainland case, they need to confess and apologize”.
Shadow Transport Minister Jim McMahon added: “It’s totally unfair that holidaymakers who book in good faith based on the government’s own recommendations have to pay extra for early flights or have to isolate and lose income after returning home. “
Sir Peter Ricketts, the former British ambassador to France and national security adviser, also stated that he is “struggling to seek consistency in the government’s position.”
