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US authorities warn against travel to France due to rise in Covid cases

The top American health agency urged travellers on Monday to avoid France, adding the country to its maximum alert level for Covid cases.

Published: 10 August 2021 08:56 CEST
US authorities warn against travel to France due to rise in Covid cases
A sign indicates the way to a health control point at Charles de Gaulle airport. Photo: Ian LANGSDON / POOL / AFP.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added France and French Polynesia to its “Level 4: Very High” list for Covid-19 levels, as French authorities grapple with a fourth wave of the virus.

“If you must travel to France, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel,” the CDC guidance states.

“Because of the current situation in France, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants.”

The US State Department was even more clear in its travel advisory published on Monday: “Do not travel to France due to COVID-19.”

The travel warning is advisory only, but can invalidate travel insurance if you travel against official advice.

The move came on the same day that France introduced health passports for many daily activities, including visiting a café and taking a high-speed train.

READ ALSO Everything you need to know about travel between France and the USA or Canada

France has managed to slow down the rise in Covid infections over the last ten days as the graph below from Le Parisien’s journalist Nicolas Berrod shows, but case numbers remain high, particularly in popular tourist destinations on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, and in France’s overseas territories.

Lockdown measures have been introduced in the overseas territories of Guadeloupe, Martinique in the Caribbean and the island of La Réunion in the Indian Ocean, and many local authorities have reintroduced measures such as mandatory masks outdoors.

France is currently averaging 22,294 new Covid cases per day.

The United States is currently on France’s green travel list, meaning that anybody can travel to France for any reason from the USA, regardless of their vaccination status.

The CDC also added Iceland, Israel, Thailand, Aruba and Eswatini to its Level 4 list on Monday. Other European countries like Spain, Portugal, Ireland and the UK were already on the list, which represents the highest of four categories of countries based on Covid levels, ranging from “Low” to “Very High”.

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STRIKES

French motorway staff on strike for first holiday weekend of summer

Workers involved in highway péage operation and intervention have called a strike action over the first weekend of the school holidays.

Published: 5 July 2024 16:40 CEST
French motorway staff on strike for first holiday weekend of summer

The CFDT union called on workers on the Autoroutes du Sud (ASF) and Vinci motorway networks to strike from 5pm on Friday until 10pm on Sunday evening on the first weekend of France’s ‘grandes vacances’, when thousands of families are due to set off on holiday, according to France Bleu Vaucluse.

READ ALSO Les Grandes Vacances: France’s 2024 summer holidays

The CFDT has filed a strike notice to “demand systematic recruitment in all sectors, with a particular focus on the toll sector” Fabrice Bergery, union representative of the CFDT ASF, said.

The union said staff who leave ASF employment are not being replaced, with employee levels dropping from 1,300 to 700 in recent years. It has demanded the immediate hiring of seasonal workers to ease pressure on current staff, and for permanent contracts to be advertised whenever staff members leave the company.

“With excessive automation, management does not consider it useful to replace those who retire. Everything is done remotely, intervention times have become much longer to assist the customer or repair equipment,” assures Fabrice Bergery.

And it has condemned a reorganisation of toll services on France’s autoroutes, as jobs across the three Vinci-owned networks are consolidated and centralised. 

The CGT union, meanwhile, has filed a strike notice, extending over the entire summer season, to September 15th.

ASF manages some 2,700 kilometres of France’s autoroutes in the south of the country, including the busy A7 and A9. 

For the most part, motorists will probably not notice any problems as toll booths are automatic. However, unions warned that there may be delays – leading to queues – in case of technical problems with the automated systems.

READ ALSO Travel trouble in store for France on first big summer holiday weekend

Vinci, however, has promised that ‘continuity of service will be ensured across the entire motorway network’.

The ASF manages some 2,700 kilometres of autoroutes in the south of the country, including the busy A7 and A9. Vinci Autoroutes, meanwhile, operates more than 4,400 kilometres of motorways in the west, south-west and south-east of France.

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