Traveling to Britain without quarantine is now possible for almost everyone except France

France was the only EU country to be barred by Britain from visiting the kingdom without quarantine, even though travelers they are doubly vaccinated against the coronavirus. A decision that generated a crisis between the two countries because the British argument that predominates in France the beta or South African variant to prevent it is wrong.

Variant B is predominant in Reunion, a French overseas territory, a 9,000 kilometers from Europe, in the Indian Ocean, which has just been confined.

EU Minister Clément Beaune described the decision to “maintain stricter quarantine measures for fully vaccinated travelers arriving in England” from his country as “Discriminatory and incomprehensible.”

He said the decision to exclude France was “excessive”. Speaking to LCI TV, he said: “This is frankly incomprehensible for health reasons. It is not based on science and it is discriminatory against the French. I hope it will be seen again as soon as possible. It’s just common sense. “

Beaune criticized the decision, after England, Scotland and Wales announced plans to drastically reduce restrictions on international travel for those who have been fully vaccinated. North Ireland has not yet announced if he will do the same.

Diplomatic crisis

Dominic Raab, the British Foreign Secretary, said he hoped that “France would be taken off the list. ámbar more and switch to amber as quickly as possible. A measure which is probably in the middle of this diplo-sanitary imbroglio.

Defending France’s position on the “amber plus” list, Raab said that “the prevalence of the beta variant on the continent and in the French Indian Ocean territory of Reunion had raised concerns”.

Responding to criticism that the Reunion Island cases should not be considered, he said: “It’s not the distance that matters. It’s the ease of traveling between different parts of a particular country. “

He claimed that the British government wanted to “make France get on the traffic light system as soon as possible”.

France being on the “orange plus” list, a special category of the traffic light system which classifies countries according to their case, variant and vaccination rate, it is the only European country excluded from the change, which will come into force. from Monday.

Travelers from the remaining 26 EU Member States, as well as Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, as well as European micro-states, as well as the United States, will be able to take the plunge so far . compulsory confinement, if they come from an “amber” country and have proof of vaccination.

Vaccines accepted

Britain demands vaccines accepted by the European Union and those authorized by the United States but not Sputnik until now.

Raab also confirmed that travelers who had been fully vaccinated “with the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm or the Russian Sputnik V could not avoid quarantine “, if they arrived in Britain.

He said that the only people Could not do this “those who had received full doses of a vaccine approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the European Medicines Agency (EMA)”.

Bookings increased by 250%

In less than 24 hours, plane reservation requests between New York and London increased by 250%.

Transport Minister Grant Shap said that “now is the right time to relax the rules international travel ”.

“We are changing to live with the Covid. 90 percent of people have their first vaccine, 73 percent per second. The rest of the world is catching up, ”he said, insisting that Britain adopt this model. safely and vaccinated travelers should be tested before and after arrival.

Shap ensured they are data driven and they do not discriminate against France.

Thousands of test centers they open into the kingdom. At St Pancras International Station, where the Eurostar train arrives from Brussels and Paris, you can get a PCR test for £ 66 or an antigen for £ 32.

Recording of isolates by “ping”

At the same time, the number of people isolated in Britain by the British health service’s “ping” system is increasing. There are 690,000 people isolated in England and Wales in the week leading up to July 21, who were victims of the “Pingemia”, because the test and research system has been named, which indicates that it should be isolated, until when and until what time.

This figure is 14% higher than the previous week.

Alarmed scientists

British scientists are alarmed by the government’s decision and warn the epidemic is not over and could escalate. They attribute the decision to welcome tourists to economic pressures corporations on the Conservative Party and them on the government.

Professor Tim Spector, co-founder of the ZOE Covid Symptom Study, said the number of people living with HIV “fell sharply” in government data “It’s very suspicious.”

Their study shows that 1 in 84 contract the virus daily, which would mean 60,000 people infected. According to Spector’s data, 30,000 of them they had not been vaccinated and 24,000 had received a single dose.

The government revealed on Wednesday that 27,734 people had tested positive in the past 24 hours.

In Northern Ireland, they are cautious. They think they might receive a stronger COVID wave because the vaccination does not have the same ease than in England. 83 percent of adults have received the first dose and 71 percent are fully immunized.

A risk?

Chancellor Raab did not deny that the government had been warned that the opening of the border poses a significant risk for public health. He only said ministers had received a “package of advice” from scientists, which had been “considered very carefully” at a meeting on Wednesday.

For him, it was only a “modest opening of international travel”, which was “smart and sane”. Although he admitted that he couldn’t rule out that some people arriving from the United States had tried falsify the vaccination record, which must be presented as proof of inoculation. The reason is that many Americans refuse to be vaccinated.

Spain runs the risk of being included in the Amber Plus list. Although decisions on the review of these countries are not expected to be made next week, which will take effect on Monday, August 9. A measure that will affect the British who are on vacation or they have planned their departure for Spain and the Balearics.

Europeans, less the French, will not only be able to spend their holidays in Great Britain but meet up with family, with whom we do not see them 18 months ago.

Paris, correspondent

ap