ANALYSIS
A few hours after the announcement by the Ministry of Health of five new cases of coronavirus on French territory, the Quai d'Orsay announced on Saturday new recommendations concerning travel to China. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises against going to China except for "imperative reason", it is indicated on the Quai d'Orsay website and on its mobile application.
On the travel advice map on the site, all of China is placed in the orange zone. This indication corresponds to the category "not recommended except imperative reason" of a professional or family nature. But travelers are invited to determine for themselves whether travel is essential or not.
Hubei province in the red zone
Those who have planned a vacation in China are therefore asked to postpone their stay and French expatriates who are preparing to return to China are advised to stay in France. More specifically, the province of Hubei, where the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus, is located, is written in red on the security map, which means that it is formally advised against going there.
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This press release was published at the end of a mid-day meeting of the ministers concerned by Prime Minister Édouard Philippe. To dissuade travelers from taking the plunge, Air France has canceled all of its scheduled flights to and from China. As for French tour operators, they have been called by their union to suspend trips to China until March 31.
In China, 720 people died as a result of the coronavirus contraction and almost 35,000 people were infected. The U.S. Embassy said on Saturday that an American died from the coronavirus in Wuhan. It would be the first confirmed death of a stranger after being infested with this new disease.