France says it will impose a 10-day mandatory quarantine on those arriving from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and South Africa over concerns about variants of the coronavirus stemming from the region.
According to the office of Prime Minister Jean Castex, although flights from Argentina, Chile and South Africa will not be suspended, all arrivals from those countries will have to submit to the quarantine or face fines.
Addressing parliament as the decision was announced on Tuesday, Prime Minister Jean Castex said they had observed that the situation was worsening being the reason for suspension of all flights between Brazil and France until further notice.
The new quarantine measures which will also restrict arrivals, mainly to French citizens or residents of France and their families as well as other EU nationals, will be gradually introduced over the coming days until they are fully enforced by next Saturday.
Flights from Brazil were already suspended until at least next Friday over concerns about the so called P1 variant of the coronavirus, which is more contagious than the original strain.
Justifying the decision not to ban flights from the other three countries, officials said the other variants were not as dangerous as the one observed in Brazil.
The statement said Arrivals from French Guiana and the Antilles will also be subjected to tests before and after their flights.
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