France is the latest country to announce it is tightening entry requirements in the wake of the omicron coronavirus variant, which has already been identified in 25 countries around the world so far.
Fully vaccinated travellers from outside the EU, including those from the UK, will have to present a negative Covid test to enter the country.
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal confirmed the move after the French government’s weekly Defence Council meeting on 1 December – although further details such as what kind of test will be required, and when the new rules kick in, have yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, experts are predicting that global travel restrictions will continue into the new year as a result of omicron, which is feared to be more transmissible and vaccine resistant to previous iterations of Covid-19.
An industry source told Travel Weekly that, at the UK government’s next tri-weekly travel review, they expected measures to be extended “another three weeks [because] they don’t want to risk Christmas. We couldn’t expect the government to do anything else at this stage.
“We don’t think things will change in three weeks, but the government must keep the measures under review. They can’t be in place any longer than necessary.”
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Helen Coffey2 December 2021 07:58
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