French President Emmanuel Macron has threatened to impose a two-week quarantine on Britons visiting France after HM’s Government announced it had similar plans that could begin as early as next month.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday the Government would impose a fortnight’s quarantine on air passengers arriving in the UK, however Mr Macron has said any quarantine applied to people travelling from France would also be imposed on Britons visiting France.
Downing Street and the Elysée have issued a joint statement agreeing quarantine measures would not apply between France and the UK “at this stage”.
The statement reads: “The Prime Minister and the President agreed to work together in taking forward appropriate border measures. This co-operation is particularly necessary for the management of our common border,
“No quarantine measures would apply to travellers coming from France at this stage; any measures on either side would be taken in a concerted and reciprocal manner.”
Amnesty for people coming from France could mean the quarantine became defunct for all EU states with freedom of movement unless it was limited purely to those who hold French citizenship.
In his address to the nation last night, Mr Johnson said: “To prevent re-infection from abroad, I am serving notice that it will soon be the time – with transmission significantly lower – to impose quarantine on people coming into this country by air.”
These measures are expected to be implemented at the start of June this year, sources last night suggested scientists or people bringing goods into the UK could be exempt for these measures, as well as people from the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
During a Cabinet meeting on Sunday, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden outright opposed the quarantine altogether, he argued it could affect the UK’s competitiveness in international trade.
As of writing, official figures state the United Kingdom has a total number of 219,183 Covid-19 cases, 186,984 of these cases are currently active.
Across the Channel in France 176,970 is the number of total cases with 94,373 of these cases being active just now.
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Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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