France will ask for Covid test of less than 48 hours to travelers outside the European Union

The French government announced on Wednesday that from Saturday travelers from outside the European Union (EU) must present a negative PCR test of less than 48 hours to enter the country, regardless of whether they are vaccinated. For those who arrive from the EU and are not vaccinated, the negative test must have been carried out less than 24 hours before, said the government spokesman, Gabriel Attal, at the end of the Council of Ministers. The question arises of the mandatory negative test for travellers from the European Union. We are working on this point in a European coordination. A decision will be made at the end of the week,” he said. “An extremely reinforced protocol” is also being negotiated at the European level to be able to resume suspended flights with destinations in southern Africa due to the new ómicron variant of the coronavirus that was originally detected in that region. France has extended the suspension of flights with South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe until Saturday to prepare that protocol under discussion. Attal pointed to the creation of a new category of countries most at risk, scarlet red, which apart from the seven countries of southern Africa include Malawi, Zambia and mauritius.Travelers from those countries who test negative will have to undergo isolation for seven days, and for ten if the result is positive. The first case of the ómicron variant in France has been detected in Réunion, a French overseas territory in the Indian Ocean, according to French health authorities on Tuesday, and there are currently another 13 suspected cases throughout the territory. This category includes any infected person who has been in a country at risk of this new variant in the 14 days prior to the date of symptoms or testing.

Original source in Spanish