France eases entry rules for vaccinated travelers from U.K.

PARIS (AP) - France will let in travelers from Britain who are vaccinated against COVID-19 without having to self-isolate or to offer a valid reason for the trip, the French prime minister said on Thursday.

Prime Minister Jean Castex said travel restrictions will be eased starting Friday because the highly-contagious omicron variant is now largely dominant in both countries.

In mid-December, France had limited the breath of what it considered valid reasons for traveling to the country and required a 48-hour isolation upon arrival in efforts to slow down the spread of omicron, which was more widespread in the U.K. at the time.

All those arriving from Britain must present a negative virus test taken within the previous 24 hours.

Unvaccinated travelers arriving from U.K. must still provide a valid reason for travelling and undergo a 10-day quarantine under police supervision.

France, which has one of Europe's most-vaccinated populations, reported this week a daily record of more than 368,000 new coronavirus cases. The seven-day average of new cases is close to 270,000, which as resulted in a rise in hospitalizations.

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