After Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and even Ireland, France has in turn decided to suspend all its connections, whether air, sea, rail or road, for a period of 48 hours. Matignon said the measure took effect Sunday, December 20 at midnight Paris time. All movements of people are affected.
This “problematic mutation of the virus, with a much more aggressive form” shows “the complexity of this virus, its aggressiveness, dare I say it, its inventiveness and the humility that we must always have”, commented the head of the ‘State, in solitary confinement after having himself tested positive for Covid-19, during a council of ministers where he was on video conference and whose images were exceptionally broadcast.
“In any case, it is an exceptional situation which led us to take this rapid decision and which should lead us to redouble our vigilance on the evolution” of the virus, added from the official residence of La Lanterne the president of the Republic, dressed in black and wearing a mask, on his 43rd birthday.
A “precautionary principle”
The suspension of transport includes “transport of goods, by road, air, sea or rail”, but “unaccompanied freight will be allowed”. “The flow of people or transport to the United Kingdom is not affected,” said Matignon, while a variant of the coronavirus has been discovered across the Channel, which however does not seem “to cause, at this stage of knowledge, increased severity or resistance to the vaccine ”. “This Christmas, which is sometimes seen as one of all dangers, must be one of all precautions,” said government spokesman Gabriel Attal on France 3.
“There is a precautionary principle that applies” in the face of “the identification of a variant of the virus”, commented Monday the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, on Europe 1. “It is the same virus , but whose genetic code has been turned upside down ”,“ which happens quite frequently ”, he added.
The effective vaccine against the new variant of Covid-19?
“This genetic variant does not seem to cause, at this stage of knowledge, an increased severity or resistance to the vaccine” and “it is not clearly established at this stage that the so-called” rapid “dissemination of this transfer to the United Kingdom would be linked to an intrinsic property of this virus ”, the Prime Minister’s office was also indicated, according to which“ the fact that this strain is more contagious has not been demonstrated at this stage ”.
But “in the context of the acceleration of the epidemic in recent days in the United Kingdom, the British health authorities have notified the World Health Organization of the information that this mutation could possibly be more contagious than the others SARS-CoV-2 variants ”, numbered more than 12,000 since the start of the pandemic.
French nationals who want to return encouraged to take a PCR test
According to Matignon, the 48-hour deadline should make it possible to pursue two objectives: “Open up a time for coordination between the Member States of the European Union in order to define a common doctrine on the regulation and control of flows from the United Kingdom. “And” operationally prepare a secure reopening of flows from the United Kingdom from December 22, and which will be based on a mandatory test device at departure “.
“We will pay particular attention to the specific situation of French nationals who have planned to return to France to spend the end of the year holidays with their families. We are now urging them to make arrangements to perform a PCR test in the coming days, ”Matignon also added. The Secretary of State for Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari specified on LCI to have asked “all operators” (SNCF, Eurostar, airlines and shipping companies) “to inform their customers” so that they know that “tickets are obviously exchangeable and refundable”, and “that we can build return solutions with them in the coming days”.
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