France to lift UK ban next week in easing of travel rules amid Omicron surge
dailyrecord.co.ukFrance is on the verge of relaxing travel rules for UK passengers brought in last month. Travel from the UK could become 'a bit easier', said French Government spokesperson Gabriel Attal.
Newspapers in France reported: "It is believed that rules will initially be eased for business travel with a further announcement expected next week, which could include holidaymakers." The spokesperson added that restrictions may be eased next week, because "the Omicron variant is affecting both countries in a similar manner".
He did not offer a detailed timeframe but admitted France was ready to lift the ban on most arrivals from Britain. France banned British travellers on December 18 as cases of the Omicron variant surged.
However, the rules are set to ease as France reported a record 332,252 new Covid cases on Wednesday.The UK travel ban was introduced last month as cases of the Omicron variant surged, causing widespread cancellations and chaos for winter holidaymakers, and people needing to drive through the country to get to holiday homes in other European nations.As cases hit a new high, hospitals in France prepared drastic measures to brace for surges and the government strained to avoid a new lockdown.The weekly average of virus cases has doubled in the past 10 days, with more than 1,800 people out of 100,000 testing positive over the past week, according to the government health agency.Meanwhile, the nation's parliament is debating a bill that would deny unvaccinated people access to restaurants, regional trains and planes and many other public places.
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