France slams ‘discriminatory’ UK quarantine rules as travelers must undergo isolation despite waivers for EU and US arrivals

Source: RT

July 29, 2021 at 09:35

Travelers wearing face masks push their suitcases in hallways at Roissy Charles De Gaulle airport during the Coronavirus (COVID)19) pandemic on May 14, 2020 in Paris, France. © Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images

Paris has slammed the UK’s decision to maintain quarantine measures for travelers from France, arguing that it is “discriminatory,” as double-jabbed citizens across the European Union (EU) are able to forgo the requirement.

During an interview with news outlet LCI on Thursday, French state secretary for European affairs, Clement Beaune, expressed his condemnation of France’s exclusion from the UK’s waivers of quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travelers.

“This is scientifically unfounded. It is a discriminatory decision … towards the French, because all Europeans, even from countries with more difficult health situations than ours — because of the Delta variant or something else – are not concerned, or no longer concerned, by the quarantine,” Beaune explained.

The British government upholds that the decision to keep the 10-day quarantine for travelers from France is based on the prevalence of the Beta variant, which was first discovered in South Africa. However, Beaune has argued that such a worry is “excessive and frankly incomprehensible,” stating that the Beta strain makes up just 5% of cases in France, mostly in the overseas territory La Reunion.

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