Paris, Europe Brief News – France has decided to reduce its travel restrictions for UK travellers starting from next Friday.
Vaccinated travellers will no longer need a compelling reason to enter France, the authorities said.
Thus, they will not have to self-isolate when they arrive according to the new rules.
But a negative Covid test, taken 24 hours before leaving the UK, will still be required for all those arriving.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has earlier said that half of Europe will catch Omicron.
WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said a “west-to-east tidal wave” of Omicron was sweeping across the region. The Delta variant is on top of a surge, he added.
The projection was based on the seven million new cases reported across Europe in the first week of 2022.
The number of infections has more than doubled in a two-week period.
“Today the Omicron variant represents a new west-to-east tidal wave, sweeping across the region on top of the Delta surge that all countries were managing until late 2021,” Dr Kluge told a news conference.
He quoted the Seattle-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation as forecasting that “more than 50 percent of the population in the region will test positive for Omicron in the next six to eight weeks”.
The WHO has earlier warned of ‘tsunami’ of COVID cases in the near future. The declaration was due to Omicron spread.
