The quarantine imposed by London on arrival from France entered into force this Saturday at 3 am, Paris promising "a measure of reciprocity", while all over Europe restrictions are resurfacing and limiting celebrations such as the pilgrimage to Lourdes .
Faced with an upsurge in coronavirus cases, the British government reimposed 14 days of isolation on Saturday on travelers arriving from France, the Netherlands and Malta, just over a month after exempting them, catching them by surprise hundreds of thousands of vacationers.
At the port of Calais, the lines of vehicles continued to swell on Friday evening, but without creating any major disruption. According to an AFP correspondent, around 10 p.m., the queues to board the ferries were full, overflowing slightly on the bypass leading to the first French port for passenger traffic, but without causing traffic jams on the surrounding highways.
The United Kingdom fears an outbreak of contaminations
The United Kingdom "now advises against all non-essential travel" to France, the British government confirmed on Twitter at 3 am on Saturday. “A 14-day quarantine for arrivals (…) is also in place,” adds the warning.
! TRAVEL UPDATE!
From 04:00 am on Saturday 15 August, if you are returning to the UK from the following countries you must now self-isolate for 14 days:
🇫🇷 France
🇳🇱 The Netherlands
🇲🇹 Malta
🇹🇨 Turks & Caicos
🇦🇼 Aruba
🇲🇨 Monaco
More details here: https://t.co/7MW1mMdU6s pic.twitter.com/SQh7fdIjxn
Some 160,000 Britons currently in France, as well as some of the 300,000 French living in the United Kingdom on vacation in their country or elsewhere, have only had a few hours to return home, under penalty of having to confine themselves on their return.
The United Kingdom, the most bereaved in Europe by the virus (more than 41,000 dead), fears an outbreak of contamination as it seeks to revive its economy, which has suffered a collapse unparalleled on the continent.
A measure reinstated one month after its lifting
France regretted the British decision and announced that it would entail "a measure of reciprocity". The decision of the British authorities is a "decision that we regret and which will lead to a measure of reciprocity, hoping for a return to normal as soon as possible", warned the French Secretary for European Affairs Clément Beaune on his Twitter account.
A British decision that we regret and which will lead to a reciprocal measure, hoping for a return to normal as soon as possible @Djebbari_JB https://t.co/6pA0qDQun6
- Clement Beaune (@CBeaune) August 13, 2020Earlier in the evening, London announced the reinstatement of quarantine for travelers from France and the Netherlands given the increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in these two countries. This quarantine measure, already implemented in early June, was lifted a month later, on July 3.
According to the Directorate General of Health (DGS), the monitoring indicators for the Covid-19 epidemic in France "continue to deteriorate" with a number of new confirmed cases which "is increasing regularly". Over the past 24 hours, 2,846 new cases have been detected (against 2,669 Thursday), noted the DGS in its daily update Friday. The United Kingdom is the most bereaved country in Europe by the pandemic with more than 41,000 deaths from Covid-19.
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