France to drastically restrict travel from UK

 

France is tightening Covid restrictions for travellers arriving from the UK, as the government in Paris tries to slow the spread of the Omicron variant.

The French prime minister's office said that from Saturday travellers would have to give a compelling reason for coming to France.

All arrivals will have to provide a negative Covid test less than 24 hours old and isolate for at least two days.

Confirmed Omicron cases are currently much higher in the UK than in France.

French citizens, their partners and children, legal residents, and EU citizens travelling home through France, won't need an essential reason to travel - but must still abide by all other rules.

The UK recorded 78,610 new Covid cases on Wednesday, the highest daily number reported since the start of the pandemic.

Slightly more than 10,000 have been confirmed as Omicron, but it is thought that about twice that number are cases of the new variant.

France reported 65,713 new Covid cases over a similar period but has only 240 confirmed cases of Omicron.

The BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris says there is no sense of panic about Omicron in France, but there are doubts and worries.

A statement from French Prime Minister Jean Castex's office (in French), said the UK was, in its own words, about to face a "landslide" linked to Omicron in the coming days.

"As the Omicron variant spreads extremely quickly in the United Kingdom, the French government has decided to re-implement compelling reasons for travels from and to the United Kingdom, and to reinforce mandatory tests at departures and arrivals," it said.

However, UK Transport Minister Grant Shapps confirmed lorry drivers would be exempt from the new restrictions, following fears over the impact on supply chains.

Downing Street has signalled there are no plans to ban French travellers from the UK.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that rising cases of Omicron globally mean that "tighter border measures wouldn't be effective or proportionate" in slowing the import of the new variant.