The government of the inimitable Prime Minister Boris Johnson is never short of a contradiction. After announcing that vaccinated travellers from countries on the "amber" list (countries with limited covid risk) would be accepted without quarantine, the British government has made a U-turn that only it knows the secret of.
Most of the European Union was in the "amber" category. Since 19 July, no need to quarantine anyone from most EU countries who has been duly vaccinated on entering the UK. Unfortunately, the except for France. The latter inaugurated a new category, "amber plus. British and European nationals arriving from France must be quarantined. They must stay at home or in any other type of accommodation for five to ten days. "The measure includes people who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19", said Sajid Javid, the British Health Minister.
The minister explained this choice by the circulation of the Beta variant (previously known as 'South African') in France. "With the lifting of restrictions across the country on Monday, we will be doing everything in our power to ensure that the virus does not spread to the rest of the country. international travel is carried out as safely as possible. As well as protecting our borders from the threat of variants" said Sajid Javid.
French travel on the index
This change aroused the anger of IATAthe world association of airlines. The association told Reuters that travel restrictions and last-minute changes imposed by the United Kingdom were contrary to what was being done elsewhere in the world.
"The UK is becoming an outlier in its confused approach to travel. It is destroying its own travel industry and thousands of jobs", said Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA. Before the health crisis, some nine million Britons visited France. The number of French people travelling to the UK was 4.5 million..
France has also changed the entry conditions for British nationals. Since 18 July unvaccinated persons must have a negative PCR or antigen test less than 24 hours old. This is the key to entering France from the UK.
The people fully vaccinated will no longer be required to take a test before entering France. The time required after the last injection is reduced to 7 days (double injection, or previous contamination + one injection) and 28 days (single injection)..
