- France said it requires people who have not been fully vaccinated to have tested negative for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.
- This task is aimed at people who have arrived from some European countries amid a surge in new infections.
- Vaccine health passes are required to enter most public places, and all medical staff are told to be fully vaccinated.
France said on Saturday that it will require people who have not been fully vaccinated and have arrived from some European countries to test negative for Covid in the past 24 hours.
British Prime Minister Jean Castex said in a statement that arrivals from the UK, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece and the Netherlands will comply with the new regulations, which will take effect from midnight Saturday to midnight Sunday.
So far, people arriving from the UK must show a negative test taken within the past 48 hours.
Entry from Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, the Netherlands and Greece must be tested within 72 hours.
However, Castex said that people who have been fully vaccinated by the European Medicines Agency (Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson) will not need to show the test.
The statement said that the exemption was in place because “the vaccine is effective against this virus, especially its variant Delta.”
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Castex said France will consider people receiving a second dose of Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca one week after the full vaccine, rather than the previous 14 days and 28 days after Johnson’s injection.
France will now also receive Covishield’s vaccination, which is a copy of the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serological Institute of India for its health pass.
The government also stated that Tunisia, Mozambique, Cuba and Indonesia will be included in France’s so-called red list.
Travel from red-listed countries is only allowed in emergency situations. Even so, vaccinated travelers must self-quarantine for 7 days.
The new measures come as several European countries are coping with the increasing number of cases, partly because of the highly infectious delta variant that is prevalent on the European continent.
In recent weeks, the number of new infections in France has increased, reaching nearly 11,000 on Friday, even though the government is racing to vaccinate the population.
President Emmanuel Macron said this week that access to most public places requires a vaccine health pass, and all medical staff must be fully vaccinated, which has triggered an upsurge of appointments for vaccinations.
So far, approximately 35.5 million people—just over half of the French population—have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
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The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) said this week that it expects a sharp increase in the number of coronavirus cases on the European continent, and the number of new infections will increase nearly five times by August 1.
France announced on Saturday that in order to control the rising number of people, the French Pyrenees-Oriental region will require bars, restaurants, beach venues and food stores to close at 23:00 from Saturday to August 2nd.
The move was made after the number of cases in the region soared from 41.5 per 100,000 to 258.8 per 100,000 within a week.
The county warned in a statement announcing these measures: “This exponential progress is beginning to translate into the same increase in hospital admissions.”
The region stipulated on Friday that masks must be worn in all public places except beaches and large natural spaces, and drinking in public places other than bars and restaurants is prohibited.
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