Covid 19: France lifts travel restrictions on South African travelers

The French government published a decree on Thursday removing the African country from its list of locations subject to highly restricted travel rules.

South Africans will no longer be barred from entering France. The French government published a decree Thursday that removed South Africa from the list of places subject to highly restricted travel rules. Travelers who have received the jab will be able to enter the French territory without having to complete a self-isolation period.

Those who are unvaccinated must on the contrary quarantine in France for 10 days under supervision from local authorities.

France almost completely banned travel to and from South Africa after the first COVID-19 cases involving the omicron variant were detected in November.

Omicron wave

The highly contagious variant has since spread around the world, causing record daily cases in the United States and parts of Europe. French Prime Minister Jean Castex said Thursday that omicron is now estimated to represent 70% to 80% of all infections in France.

France, which has one of Europe's most-vaccinated populations, reported more than three hundred thousand new virus cases on Wednesday.