France lashes out at UK’S quarantine rule
The UK singled out France due to the govt’s concern over the ‘persistent presence’ of the Beta variant, which is believed to be more resistant to vaccines
France said on Thursday it failed to understand why it was exempt from a new rule allowing fullyvaccinated European Union citizens to enter England without having to quarantine.
From next week, travellers fully jabbed with a vaccine approved by the US Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency will be able to travel from any country on the British government’s “amber” traffic light list without having to self-isolate at home for 10 days, the UK government said on Wednesday.
Arrivals from France are the only exception. “This decision is discriminatory towards French people,” said French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune.
“It is excessive and makes no sense in terms of health policy,” he told the LCI TV channel, adding that “it has no foundation in science.”
The UK singled out France due to the government’s concern over the “persistent presence” of the Beta variant, which is believed to be more resistant to vaccines.
But Beaune said the Delta strain accounted for fewer than five per cent of Covid cases in France, and mostly occurred in overseas territories from where relatively few people travelled to the UK.
Beaune also said he regretted that travellers from the EU could still not enter the United States, even though American tourists can easily come to EU countries so long as they are vaccinated or have a negative Covid test.
“We should have kept reciprocity as a trump card up our sleeves at the European level,” he said. “Perhaps Europe overall should have been tougher in the negotiations.”
France on Wednesday reported just under 28,000 new Covid cases for the previous 24 hours and 40 new deaths from the virus.
A total of 111,768 people have died from Covid in France, according to health authorities.
England will allow fully vaccinated visitors from the European Union and United States to arrive without needing to quarantine from next week, in a huge and long-awaited boost for airlines and travel companies.
Britain’s travel industry has criticised the government for being too slow to open up, saying it has squandered its lead in the global vaccine rollout and given the EU a headstart in attracting tourists.
Now, from Aug. 2, travellers with US and EUapproved vaccines will not have to quarantine.
Lifting the same requirement for fully vaccinated Britons returning from medium risk countries in July helped to kickstart a travel recovery.
The new rule applies to England but is widely expected to be followed by the rest of Britain shortly. The government said international cruise sailings could also restart from England.
Airlines, such as British Airways, and Britain’s biggest airport Heathrow, weighed down by cumulative pandemic losses of $4 billion, welcomed the move but said more was needed if the industry was to recover from the collapse in demand.
Top of the list is a reopening of the UK-US travel corridor which is still affected by a ban on all non-us citizens who have been in Britain.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told LBC Radio earlier on Wednesday that he wanted US citizens to come to England “freely” and was discussing making changes.
Travellers also still have to take an expensive COVID-19 test before departure and shortly after arrival in England.
BA Chief Executive Sean Doyle said the company’s trials had proved it could check travellers for vaccination status quickly and safely.
“This step will allow us to reunite loved ones and get Global Britain back in business, giving the economy the vital boost it so badly needs,” he said in a statement.
Changing the quarantine rules for the United States and EU will ease access to some of Britain’s biggest markets for visitor volumes.
It will also help companies drum up business after the severe financial strain of 16 months of pandemic-linked restrictions.
Shares in British Airways were up 3% while easyjet rose 4% and Wizz Air jumped 7%. Airlines make nearly all their profits during the summer season and easyjet had said this month that it was directing more flights to Europe where there is more demand.
“It’s the right thing, it should be done, but like I said it is little bit too late,” easyjet CEO Johan Lundgren told LBC.