France sees EU coordinating on trips from Covid variant-hit countries

France announced late Saturday the implementation of a 10-day quarantine for travelers from Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Brazil, with police controls and stiff fines, to try and limit the spread of variants within the country, on top of mandatory tests.

The European Union will try to coordinate a common policy for travelers from countries dealing with coronavirus variants such as Brazil and India, France’s Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Sunday.

Last week, France announced a temporary suspension of all flights from Brazil due to the deteriorating health situation there, yet maintained flights between its overseas territory of Guyana, which shares 700 kilometers (435 miles) of borders with Brazil. (Reuters representative image)

France announced late Saturday the implementation of a 10-day quarantine for travelers from Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Brazil, with police controls and stiff fines, to try and limit the spread of variants within the country, on top of mandatory tests. The French government will discuss these new measures with its European partners early next week, Prime Minister Jean Castex said in an emailed statement.

Beforehand, travelers entering France from outside the EU were requested to commit to isolate for seven days with no proper checks, even though Europe’s outside borders have been closed since March 2020.

Last week, France announced a temporary suspension of all flights from Brazil due to the deteriorating health situation there, yet maintained flights between its overseas territory of Guyana, which shares 700 kilometers (435 miles) of borders with Brazil.