EPIDEMIC: The flow of people or transport to the United Kingdom is affected, ”said the government after a Defense Council meeting
France suspends from Sunday midnight and for 48 hours all travel of people from the United Kingdom, “including related to the transport of goods, by road, air, sea or rail,” said the government after a meeting and advice from the Defense Council.
“Only unaccompanied freight will therefore be authorized. The flow of people or transport to the United Kingdom is affected, “said the government, while a variant of the coronavirus has been discovered across the Channel, which does not seem” however “to lead, at this stage of knowledge, increased severity or resistance to the vaccine ”.
Similar measures are taken by other countries
The French decision comes in the wake of similar measures taken by Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany or Ireland, while a variant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus has been detected across the Channel.
“This genetic variant does not appear to lead, at this stage of knowledge, to increased severity or resistance to the vaccine” and “it is not clearly established at this stage that the so-called ‘rapid’ spread of this mutation in the United Kingdom would be linked to an intrinsic property of this virus ”, specifies Matignon, according to whom“ the fact that this strain is more contagious has not been demonstrated at this stage ”.
But, continue the services of the French Prime Minister, “in the context of the acceleration of the epidemic in recent days in the United Kingdom, the British health authorities have notified the World Health Organization of the information according to which this mutation could possibly be more contagious than other variants of SARS-CoV-2 “, numbered at more than 12,000 since the start of the pandemic.
The situation of French nationals
According to the government, the 48-hour deadline should make it possible to pursue two objectives: “to open up a time for coordination between the Member States of the European Union in order to define a common doctrine on the regulation and control of flows from the United Kingdom “And” operationally prepare a secure reopening of flows from the United Kingdom from December 22nd, and which will be based on a mandatory test device at departure “.
“We will pay particular attention to the specific situation of French nationals who have planned to return to France to spend the end of the year holidays with their families. We are already urging them to make arrangements to perform a PCR test in the coming days, ”added the government.
