Britons planning a holiday in france are warned they may have to quarantine once they return

BRITISH tourists planning to visit France are being warned that they may have to quarantine on their return amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus there.

The French health authority – Santé publique France – reported cases of Covid-19 are up by a third (33%) in the week to August 6, and infection rates are increasing in all age groups, particularly 20- to 30-year-olds.

The Foreign Office has placed France, where hundreds of thousands of Britons are thought to be holidaying, in the category of nations that are being “closely monitored”.

With more than 30,000 deaths, France has the third-highest death toll in Europe, behind the UK and Italy.

The city of Toulouse has introduced new rules requiring face masks in its busiest streets, with Paris and a number of other cities expected to follow suit.

The wearing of masks in enclosed public spaces has been compulsory across the whole of France since July 20 for those aged 11 and over.

France’s coronavirus rate has increased steadily in the past month to 13.2 new infections per 100,000 people, suggesting the spread is worse than in the UK, which has a rate of 8.4.

However, France still appears to be faring better than Belgium, which has seen its rate soar to 27.8.

It also had a rate lower than Spain’s when it was added to the restriction list at around 27.4.

New 14-day quarantine measures were brought in for travellers returning to the UK from Belgium, Andorra and the Bahamas, starting at midnight yesterday in Wales and from 4am today for the rest of the UK.

The Welsh Government announced that Belgium, Andorra and the Bahamas have been removed from the country’s “green” travel list following a rise in coronavirus cases.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office also updated its travel advice to warn against all but essential trips to the three countries.

The Department for Transport clarified that people driving to the UK from Germany or the Netherlands via Belgium will need to self-isolate for 14 days unless, while, in Belgium, all passengers remain in the car and no-one

joins them. Anyone who travels on a train which passengers get on or off in Belgium will also need to quarantine.

This means Eurostar passengers travelling from Amsterdam to London will need to self-isolate, as the journey involves changing trains in Brussels.

Eurostar said it recorded an increase in passengers travelling on its trains from Brussels to London yesterday, beating the England quarantine deadline.

Speaking to Sky News about quarantine and whether France could be the next nation to be added to the quarantine list, Chancellor Rishi Sunak told holidaymakers “there is always the risk of disruption” during the pandemic.

He added: “It’s a tricky situation. What I can say to people is, we’re in the midst of a global pandemic and that means there is always the risk of disruption to travel plans and people need to bear that in mind.

“It’s the right thing for us to do to keep everything under review on a constant basis talking with our scientists, our medical advisers, and if we need to take action, as you’ve seen overnight, we will of course not hesitate to do that, and we’re doing that to protect people’s health.”

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We are monitoring the health risk status of other countries and territories in relation to Covid-19 and will take decisions in light of the latest up-to-date assessments.”

Brunei and Malaysia have been added to the government’s travel corridor list, following a decrease in confirmed cases of coronavirus, meaning arrivals from these countries no longer need to quarantine.

In Andorra, new cases per week have increased fivefold since midJuly, while in the Bahamas the weekly case rate peaked at 78.6 last week, up from 3.1 in the middle of last month.

The UK’s move to add Spain onto the quarantine list on July 26 sparked a diplomatic row with the nation and caught out holidaymakers who had already flown over, including Mr Shapps.

It also angered transport bosses who have called for increased testing to reduce the isolation period.