France placed under new ‘amber plus’ quarantine rules in last minute government U-turn
Double-vaccinated travellers from France to the UK will still have to quarantine on return from Monday, after a last minute U-turn announced by the government late on Friday night.
As the majority of England’s coronavirus restrictions are dropped on 19 July, fully vaccinated adults arriving to the UK from “amber list” countries will not be required to isolate for 10 days at home, under the government’s planned “traffic light” travel rules.
But last night, the government announced this will no longer apply to France – even though it will still be classed as on the amber list.
“Anyone who has been in France in the last 10 days will need to quarantine on arrival to England in their own accommodation and will need a Day 2 and Day 8 test, regardless of their vaccination status,” the new government guidance said.
The decision was made over fears of the prevalence of the Beta variant of coronavirus – which was first identified in South Africa – in France, and suspicions over its resistance to vaccines.
Around 3.4 per cent of Covid cases reported in the last month in France were the Beta variant, according to GISAID data, while the highly transmissable Delta variant currently accounts for 99 per cent of cases in the UK.
Ministers had considered adding France to the “red list”, where people have to quarantine for 10 days in a hotel on arrival, which would have had a disruptive effect on trade and supply chains between the UK and France.
Health secretary Sajid Javid said:
“We have always been clear that we will not hesitate to take rapid action at our borders to stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect the gains made by our successful vaccination programme.”
But the new strict quarantine rules for France have been criticised by travel firms and holidaymakers for the untimely Friday night announcement, causing just as much confusion and disruption.
“Amber plus was never mentioned before,” Gemma Antrobus from the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) told the BBC‘s Today programme this morning.
“It was far easier last summer when no one was vaccinated, and you just had a yes or a no – you can go or you can’t go. Now we have five different categories, which as a travel industry we’re trying to understand.
“So it’s no wonder that the consumer is completely confused and will lose confidence in wanting to travel. This will dent the travel industry even further,” she added.
Meanwhile, British travellers who are already in France have been left with 48 hours to change their travel plans, or face a 10 day quarantine on return.
“We struggle to understand the sudden desire to introduce quarantine for returnees from France and cannot help feel this has far more to do with politics and much less to do with science,” said Graham McLeod, a fully-vaccinated 63-year-old holidaymaker who has been staying on France’s Atlantic coast.
“In terms of government messaging, we’d say it’s inconsistent, irregular, unclear and frankly unworkable,” he said.
In the wake of the announcement, France on Saturday declared it was tightening entry rules on people arriving to the country from the UK and other places in Europe.
As of Sunday 18 July, people who have not been double-vaxxed will have to provide proof of a negative Covid test from the last 24 hours – rather than the previous 72 hour window – in order to enter France.