France to Require 24-Hour Negative Covid Test for Some European Arrivals

France said Saturday it would require not fully vaccinated people, arriving from some European countries to show a negative Covid test taken within the previous 24 hours.

Prime Minister Jean Castex stated that arrivals from the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece and the Netherlands will be subject to the new rule, which comes into effect at midnight Saturday into Sunday.

Till today, people arriving from the United Kingdom are required to show a negative test taken within the past 48 hours. Arrivals from Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, the Netherlands and Greece have had to show tests taken within 72 hours.

Nevertheless, Castex said that people who are fully vaccinated with a jab recognised by the European Medicines Agency—Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson—will not be required to show a test.

The statement added that the exemption was in place because “vaccines are effective against the virus, and in particular its variant Delta”.

Also, Tunisia, Mozambique, Cuba and Indonesia have been added to France’s so-called red list. Travel from red list countries is only allowed on pressing grounds and even then vaccinated travellers must self-isolate for seven days.

The new measures come as several European nations battle rising caseloads, blamed in part on the highly-transmissible Delta variant which has taken hold on the continent.

On his part, President Emmanuel Macron affirmed this week that vaccine health passes would be required for entry to most public places and that all healthcare workers must be fully inoculated, sparking a rush to book appointments for the jab.

Notably, around 35.5 million people—just over half of France’s population—have received at least one vaccine dose so far.