France added to quarantine list
400,000 British holidaymakers face race home to avoid start of restrictions at 4am on Saturday
‘Everybody understands that you don’t allow our population to be reinfected or the disease to come back’
HUNDREDS of thousands of British holidaymakers will need to quarantine when they return from France, Boris Johnson announced last night. The Prime Minister decided to strip France from the “green list” after it reported a sharp rise in coronavirus infections.
About 400,000 Britons have until 4am on Saturday to return to the UK before restrictions are implemented, requiring them to self-isolate for two weeks.
The announcement, which echoes the way quarantine was imposed at six hours’ notice on travellers from Spain, will lead to a scramble for flights and trains out of France before the deadline.
France’s secretary of state for European affairs said the UK decision would lead to “reciprocal measures” across the Channel.
Clément Beaune tweeted: “A British decision which we regret and which will lead to reciprocal measures, all in hoping for a return for normal as soon as possible.”
Coronavirus cases in France hit a post-lockdown daily high yesterday as the country’s health ministry reported 2,699 new infections in 24 hours.
Yesterday, Mr Johnson said the Government would be “absolutely ruthless” with imposing the measures, even with “our closest and dearest partners”.
During a visit to Northern Ireland Mr Johnson said: “We can’t be remotely complacent about our own situation. Everybody understands that in a pandemic you don’t allow our population to be reinfected or the disease to come back in.
“That is why the quarantine measures are very important and we have to apply them in a very strict way.” The Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks and Caicos and Aruba were also removed from the travel exemptions list, effective from 4am on Saturday.
Officials said they were responding to a “significant change in Covid-19 risk”. Cases in the Netherlands jumped by 52 per cent and there was a 273 per cent increase in newly reported incidents of coronavirus in Turks and Caicos in the past week. Aruba saw a 1,106 per cent rise in the past week, with cases more than doubling in Malta.
The Foreign Office also updated its travel advice to advise against all but essential travel to the six countries. Gibraltar remained on the “green list” of countries despite rising cases.
It comes as lockdown measures were eased last night, with wedding receptions and pilots of sporting events with spectators allowed to resume from Saturday.
All the measures that were put on hold two weeks ago by the Prime Minister will now be reinstated from Saturday. This will apply across England, except for areas under local lockdown.
Mr Johnson also introduced tougher penalties for repeatedly failing to wear face masks in public places. Fines will double each time someone is found in breach of the rules, up to a maximum of £3,200. Hairdressers will also now be required to wear surgical face masks.
Over the past week there has been a 66 per cent increase in newly reported cases of coronavirus in France, and a 52 per cent increase in its weekly incidence rate per 100,000 population.
The Prime Minister decided to impose lockdown measures hours after seeing the data, government sources said. Prof Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, is understood to have signed off on the decision last night. The quarantine regulations will apply
to Corsica as well as mainland France, The Daily Telegraph understands.
Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, said: “Data shows we need to remove France, the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks and Caicos and Aruba from our list of coronavirus travel corridors to keep infection rates down. If you arrive in the UK after 0400 Saturday from these destinations you will need to self-isolate for 14 days.”
People arriving in the UK will need to fill out a “passenger locator form”, indicating where they will be self-isolating if returning from a country which is on the “red list”.
Yesterday morning it was initially thought that France had done “enough” to retain its status, with government sources indicating new restrictions would not be imposed.
A government source said the data on infections in France were “above the level we regard as safe”. Employers are being urged to be “understanding” over the need for people returning.
Officials last night issued a statement saying: “The Joint Biosecurity Centre and Public Health England have indicated a significant change in Covid-19 risk in all six destinations, leading to ministers removing these from the current list of travel corridors.”
It added: “The Government has made consistently clear it will take decisive action if necessary to contain the virus, including removing countries from the travel corridors list rapidly if the public health risk of people returning from a particular country without self-isolating becomes too high.”
Getlink, the Channel Tunnel operator, said additional services may be laid on but warned that many passengers may not be able to get back to the UK.
‘The Joint Biosecurity Centre and Public Health England have indicated a significant change in risk’
John Keefe, Getlink’s director of public affairs, told BBC’S Newsnight the trains were “already pretty much fully booked” on Friday.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, said that to issue a blanket quarantine on France was “madness” and instead urged the Government to “quickly adopt a targeted regional approach”. Paris had said it would impose reciprocal quarantine restrictions.
Another senior backbencher suggested that “diplomacy” around the ongoing migrant crisis could increase tensions with France.
One travel industry source said removing France from quarantine free travel was a “disaster” for the sector.