Quarantine alert for 500,000 Britons in France as cases soar

FEARS for 500,000 British holidaymakers were mounting last night after France recorded a large rise in coronavirus cases and hospital admissions.

Industry insiders suspect France is days away from being scrubbed off the travel corridor list and say an announcement could be made as early as tomorrow.

Malta, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Poland are also at risk of fresh restrictions which would force families to quarantine for 14 days on their return to the UK.

Travellers would likely get at least 30 hours’ notice before any new rules kick in.

Yesterday’s data for French coronavirus cases has caused alarm on both sides of the Channel – and prompted French prime minister Jean Castex to warn infections could spiral out of control.

France recorded almost 5,000 new cases from Saturday to Monday – more than double the number on the same day two weeks ago, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Similarly, the number of cases per 100,000 of the population – a key statistic used by public health experts to determine quarantine status – has risen from 26 to 29 in just 24 hours in the biggest daily rise since the end of May. France yesterday logged its first significant rise in Covid-related hospital admissions since the end of the country’s lockdown – an increase of 34 admissions to a total of 5,045.

The UK’s Joint Biosecurity Centre last night reviewed the data in their weekly review of international infection rates. They are then expected to brief ministers, with an official decision on France’s quarantine status likely afterwards. A Department for Transport spokesman said the quarantine list is under constant review.