The presentation before boarding of a negative Covid-19 screening test of less than forty-eight hours will become compulsory on January 5 for travelers over the age of 11 wishing to travel to France from China, can we read in a decree published on Saturday December 31 in Official newspaper.
“Optional random tests” will however be carried out from 1is January upon arrival on national soil, and travelers will have to “self-isolate in the event of a positive result”, he says in this decree which specifies the decisions announced the day before. These measures, which also include wearing a mandatory mask during the flight, will remain in effect until January 31.
After Italy and Spain, France in turn opted on Friday for the strengthening of controls in order to limit the risks linked to the sharp increase in contamination in China since the end of the zero Covid strategy.
The Member States of the European Union (EU) failed to agree on a common strategy. The French government always claims to be in favor of an approach “concerted”but ensures that it was necessary “take measures to protect the French without waiting for a European decision”.
“Need for consistency”
The scientific community recommends the immediate implementation of health measures to avoid a domino effect. In the Sunday newspaperYazdan Yazdanpanah, director of the Agency for Research on Emerging Diseases, regrets these scattered measures. “We need consistency”car “consistency allows acceptability” in the population, he says.
In addition to checks, the government has invited people residing in France to postpone their flight to China for non-compelling reasons. According to the Ministry of Health, the epidemic situation in China is sufficiently “serious” to justify these measures. The executive mentions in particular a “significant risk of intense circulation of the virus” with the “massive flows” which will accompany the Chinese New Year celebrations and then the reopening of the borders on January 8.
The Ministry of Transport expects a resumption of flights to France in the coming days. Until now, flows have remained limited to around ten rotations per week, representing around three thousand passengers, all bound for Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport.