France lifts ban on flights from southern Africa, but with restrictions

France will allow flights from ten countries in southern Africa from Saturday but with “drastic” restrictions, since it will only allow French citizens, the European Union, diplomats and cabin crew to disembark.

Passengers must undergo a test COVID-19 upon arrival, and they will have to do seven days of quarantine still testing negative (10 days for positives), said the French government spokesman Gabriel Attal after the meeting of the council of ministers.

France was one of the countries that on Friday, November 26, banned flights from the south of Africa, after the discovery of the variant of the coronavirus “omicron”In South Africa, considered “worrying”.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday that the “generalized” ban on flights from southern Africa could do more harm than good, because it could discourage countries from reporting on the evolution of the virus.

Attal He explained that the French health authorities had discovered 13 suspected cases of carrying the omicron variant.

“We cannot fool ourselves or be innocent, surely there will be cases in our territory in the next few hours or days”, said.

Attal announced in turn that travelers coming from outside the European Union They will have to present a negative coronavirus test carried out at least 48 hours before, in an attempt to stop the spread of this new variant.

In addition, unvaccinated travelers from within the EU they will have to present a negative test carried out 24 hours before.

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