Britain 'tightens' the door France extends curfew

From 4:00 am on January 15 (local time), the UK has closed its borders with more than 10 countries and territories in South America and Portugal. Meanwhile, the curfew will be extended across France.

Britain ‘tightens’ the door France extends curfew

According to UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, the countries and territories banned from entering the UK include Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Suriname. , Uruguay and Venezuela. Portugal is also on this list due to its close connection with Brazil. The UK made the decision after there was evidence of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil. However, this decision does not apply to the entry of British and Irish citizens as well as the transport of goods.
In December 2020, the UK also banned people from entering South Africa after detecting a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the country. Up to now, the UK has recorded more than 3.26 million cases of SARS-CoV-2 after adding 48,682 new infections in the past 24 hours. The UK is currently the country with the fifth highest number of infections in the world, after the US, India, Brazil and Russia.

On January 5, 2021, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a nationwide blockade, the strictest blockade order since March last year. All primary and secondary schools will be closed, 56 million Britons must stay at home and only be allowed to go out once a day.

This is the third time the UK has to blockade, with this time expected to last for 6 weeks, ie until mid-February. Before the nationwide blockade order was introduced, the UK applied a local blockade that affected about 44 million people.

On January 14, the French Government announced many additional measures to combat the COVID-19 epidemic, in which the curfew will be extended nationwide and the 3rd nationwide blockade measure if the epidemic situation exceeds the limit. control.

During a press conference held on the evening of January 14 next to a number of ministers in the Government, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said that the French people had spent a holiday of Christmas and New Year with a sense of responsibility. and be careful not to explode the virus infections as previously feared. The French Prime Minister assessed that the COVID-19 epidemic situation was still under control but very fragile.

In the face of the risk that the epidemic may get out of control, the French Government will impose many additional measures in the coming weeks to combat the COVID-19 epidemic, especially to prevent the spread of the new variant of the SARS virus- CoV-2 originated in the UK. This is a virus with a transmission rate of 30-70% faster than the current virus strain. France also records about 200 to 300 cases of this new variant every day.

From Saturday, January 16, the curfew from 6pm the previous day to 6am the next day is being applied to 25 provinces across the country and will be extended to the whole of France. This regulation will be in effect for at least 15 days. France will also tighten rules for people arriving in France from countries outside the European Union, and strengthen border controls.

“From next Monday, everyone who wants to enter France from any country outside the European Union, must undergo a test before departure. They must present a negative test certificate before boarding or boarding. Moreover, the people involved must commit to self-quarantine within 7 days upon entering France and have to do a second PCR test after the isolation period is over,” said Jean Castex.

In the near future, France will also accelerate the rate of vaccination against COVID-19. On January 18, more than 700 vaccination centers will open nationwide.

As of January 14, France has vaccinated more than 300,000 people, the goal is to vaccinate 2.5 million people by the end of February 2021. If other vaccines are circulated in France, from now until the end of February, France will have a total of about 4 million doses of vaccine to vaccinate people.