French President Emanuel Macron has revealed that the country is in the final stages of finalizing its travel restriction plan for vaccinated travelers and those who tested negative for COVID-19. The measures will be lifted for citizens of the European Union and third countries, as well as for travelers from the United States and the United Kingdom.
The President informed that the French ministers are finalizing technical discussions on a safe journey without restrictions and are drawing up a test and vaccination certificate to facilitate travel between EU countries.
"We will gradually lift the restrictions from the beginning of May, which means that we will organize during the summer with professionals from France for French, European citizens, but also for American and British citizens. So, we are working to find a concrete solution, especially for citizens who are vaccinated, a special permit, I would say ", said Macron.
France will impose strict restrictions on travelers from countries where variants of the virus have spread.
With the establishment of a so-called "vaccine passport", Macron stressed that the country will be able to control the virus and maximize vaccination rates, which would allow the progressive lifting of measures. On the other hand, Macron explained that the country will impose strict restrictions on travelers from countries where variants of the virus have spread.
France will impose stricter rules for travelers arriving from Brazil, South Africa, Chile and Argentina. However, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the number of countries on the list could increase at any time. Under the new restrictions, all persons entering France from one of the four countries are obliged to isolate themselves for a period of 10 days.
To date, France has registered 5.289.526 COVID-19 cases and over 100.000 deaths.
In addition to the mandatory self-isolation period, passengers must provide a negative PCR test performed less than 36 hours before boarding or a negative antigen test result not older than 24 hours. France has previously suspended all flights to and from Brazil to stop the spread of new variants of the virus. The suspension of travel between the two countries will expire on April 24, but new restrictions will be imposed by then, a government official said.
"Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Brazil are the most dangerous in terms of the number of variants that exist and the evolution of the pandemic in these countries", added Le Drian.
Furthermore, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed that France lost EUR 103 billion in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with its GDP falling from EUR 211 billion in 2019 to EUR 108 billion in 2020.