France May Tighten Entries From Britain Due To Covid Omicron Surge

According to French government spokesman Gabriel Attal, France is considering tightening controls for travelers arriving from the United Kingdom, where the new, more contagious Omicron coronavirus variant appears to be rapidly spreading.

“In terms of the United Kingdom, the current rule is that in order to enter France, you must show a negative test that is less than 48 hours old,” Attal said on Tuesday.

“However, we are always looking for ways to tighten the framework; we are currently working on it, and I believe we will reach a conclusion in the coming days,” he added.

According to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, at least one person has died in the United Kingdom after contracting the Omicron variant, marking the first publicly confirmed death worldwide from the fast-spreading new strain.

Read Also:  Nigeria Confirms 754 New Cases in COVID-19

Attal said that France, which is currently engulfed in a fifth wave of COVID fueled primarily by the Delta variant, has 133 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant, which was first detected in late November in South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong.

Despite the threat of this variant, he said there were no plans to take new restrictive measures to contain the disease at this time, and that the French government’s strategy included accelerating the COVID vaccine booster jab campaign.

“There are no plans to change the rules in France (…) the key is to continue the vaccination campaign with the booster shot,” Attal said, adding that the government was keeping a close eye on the situation.

On Monday, the seven-day moving average of daily new cases, which smooths out reporting irregularities, hit a new high of 48,879. The current number of people hospitalized for COVID-19, at 14,527, is the highest since June 5.

On December 13, France reported that another 231 people had died from COVID in hospitals in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total number of COVID patients in intensive care units (ICUs) to 2,752.

Read Also:  U.S. Donates 2.5 Million Doses Of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccines To Nigeria

According to French government spokesman Gabriel Attal, France is considering tightening controls for travelers arriving from the United Kingdom, where the new, more contagious Omicron coronavirus variant appears to be rapidly spreading.

“In terms of the United Kingdom, the current rule is that in order to enter France, you must show a negative test that is less than 48 hours old,” Attal said on Tuesday.

“However, we are always looking for ways to tighten the framework; we are currently working on it, and I believe we will reach a conclusion in the coming days,” he added.

According to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, at least one person has died in the United Kingdom after contracting the Omicron variant, marking the first publicly confirmed death worldwide from the fast-spreading new strain.

Attal said that France, which is currently engulfed in a fifth wave of COVID fueled primarily by the Delta variant, has 133 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant, which was first detected in late November in South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong.

Despite the threat of this variant, he said there were no plans to take new restrictive measures to contain the disease at this time, and that the French government’s strategy included accelerating the COVID vaccine booster jab campaign.

“There are no plans to change the rules in France (…) the key is to continue the vaccination campaign with the booster shot,” Attal said, adding that the government was keeping a close eye on the situation.

On Monday, the seven-day moving average of daily new cases, which smooths out reporting irregularities, hit a new high of 48,879. The current number of people hospitalized for COVID-19, at 14,527, is the highest since June 5.

Read Also:  Airlines to pay $3,500 per passenger for COVID-19 protocol violation: NCAA

On December 13, France reported that another 231 people had died from COVID in hospitals in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total number of COVID patients in intensive care units (ICUs) to 2,752.