Europe 1 with AFP 4:24 p.m., December 01, 2021

On leaving the Council of Ministers, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said that 13 suspected cases of the Omicron variant were currently in France. In addition, he announced a strengthening of the conditions to access France, in particular the obligation of a negative test of less than 48 hours for all travelers coming from a destination outside the EU.

There are currently "13 suspected cases of the Omicron variant in" French "territory and there will be proven cases" in the next few hours or days, "government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Wednesday. 'At the time of writing, there are 13 suspected cases of the Omicron variant in our territory, these are suspected cases, that is to say for which a screening suggested that there was a possibility of a variant Omicron.

All these cases are being sequenced, "said the Secretary of State at the exit of the Council of Ministers.

"No panic, but maximum vigilance"

"So let's not be fooled or naive, there will most likely be cases in our territory in the next few hours or days," he added. Stating "that no consolidated data allows us to conclude that this variant would be more dangerous or more resistant to vaccines", he stressed that "there is no panic, but maximum vigilance" on this subject. Regarding the current wave of contaminations, "the health situation is worsening very clearly, and very quickly in our territory," said Gabriel Attal, noting a "massive resumption of the epidemic" with Tuesday 47,177 new cases, "a level never reached since spring ". 

"Hospital pressure is increasing markedly", he also noted, and even if "it remains fortunately more measured than in previous waves thanks to the vaccine, it could quickly become a strong constraint for the hospital".

"Admissions have increased by 40% this last week, there are now 20% of hospitalized patients, 25% of patients in intensive care more than last week, the number of hospitalizations has just crossed the 10,000 mark for the first time since August, "he added.

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Tightening of conditions of access to the territory

Faced with this threat, Gabriel Attal also announced a tightening of the conditions of access to his territory by imposing in particular a negative test for all travelers, even vaccinated, coming from a country outside the European Union. On the specific case of Southern Africa, the government spokesperson announced a resumption of flights "with drastic supervision". Only French people, EU nationals, diplomats and seafarers will be able to travel to these destinations.

These travelers will also undergo a Covid test on their arrival in France, followed by isolation for seven days in the event of a negative result and ten days if the result is positive, he said.

In both cases, the isolation "will be monitored by internal security forces and in the event of non-compliance with the isolation, a fine of 1,000 to 1,500 euros" will be imposed, added the spokesperson.

These measures concern the seven countries with which flights were suspended since Friday (South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini), to which have been added Malawi, Zambia and Mauritius.

Outside the EU, a negative test of less than 48 hours 

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The government will include these ten countries in a new "scarlet red" category created for "countries at risk", for which "there will be no travel or authorized access for professional, tourist, family or business purposes. studies and even research ". In addition, the government imposes for all travelers coming from a country outside the EU a negative test of less than 48 hours, "whether these travelers are vaccinated or not". For travelers from EU countries, France will impose a 24-hour test for non-vaccinated people.

"The question of an obligation of negative tests for travelers (vaccinated) from EU countries arises," said Gabriel Attal, specifying that the government is seeking "European coordination" on this subject and that "decision will be made by the end of the week."