France is preparing to impose new restrictions on travelers from four countries in an effort to keep out more contagious COVID-19 variants.
The Associated Press reports that France will impose new entry restrictions on those arriving from Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Brazil.
Entry from those countries is limited to French citizens and their family members, citizens of the European Union and others with permanent residence in France. Those who do enter will be subject to a mandatory 10-day quarantine with police checks to ensure compliance.
Travelers must also be able to provide evidence of a negative PCR test taken within 36 hours of boarding or a negative antigen test taken less than 24 hours before their flight.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Sunday that the number of countries on this list could grow, the AP said.
Le Drian said on Saturday that the four countries are “the most dangerous in terms of the number of existing variants and the evolution of the pandemic in these countries.”
France has confirmed more than 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus, AP, one of the European countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, reports.
The AP notes that the COVID-19 variant first identified in the UK now accounts for 80 percent of cases in France, while variants believed to originate from Brazil and South Africa account for about 4 percent.
French President Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Jean-Michel MacronSunday outlook: Russia, US exchange sanctions; tensions over police action are growing; vaccination campaign continues The Hill’s Morning Report – presented by Tax March – Biden to Putin: Harsh sanctions, candid talk Zelensky meets France and Germany over tensions in Russia MORE said on Sunday that some travel restrictions, particularly for vaccinated individuals, would start to lift from May, potentially opening up a tourist season.
“We will phase out the restrictions at the beginning of May, which means we will organize in France over the summer with our professionals for French European citizens, as well as for US citizens,” Macron said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “So we are working hard to propose a very concrete solution, especially for US citizens who have been vaccinated, so with a special pass, I would say.”