France considering stricter restrictions for British tourists over variant concerns
23 May 2021, 19:51
France is considering stricter coronavirus restrictions for British tourists this summer to prevent the spread of the Indian variant, a minister has said.
Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian raised the possibility of tighter restrictions for UK tourists on Sunday.
He suggested Britain could be put in a category of its own, somewhere between the strictest measures that France is imposing on visitors and more relaxed requirements being prepared for visitors from the European Union and some other countries.
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Mr Le Drian did not give specifics but said "health measures that are a bit stronger" could be applied for British tourists.
He indicated the French government is watching how the situation develops before making up its mind.
"We hope that the variant can be controlled in a country which experienced real failures during the pandemic," he said.
"However, the arrival of the Indian variant and the increase of cases of Indian variant in the United Kingdom pose a problem and so we are vigilant about this (and) in contact with the British authorities," he added.
Indian Covid variant 'is more transmissible' than previous variants
He said: "It won't be the red treatment if we have to do it. It will be an intermediate treatment.
"But it is not excluded - this springs to mind because of British tourists - that we have health measures that are a bit stronger."
From Sunday, Germany started requiring people arriving from the UK to go into quarantine for 14 days.
The decision announced last Friday was in response to the spread of the Indian variant.
