France added Russia to the list of "red" countries due to COVID-19 Russia

The French authorities have included Russia in the "red list" of countries due to the high spread of coronavirus: Russians must undergo mandatory quarantine upon arrival. This was announced by the official representative of the government of the republic, Gabriel Attal, reports Le Figaro.

Simultaneously with Russia, the Seychelles and Namibia were included in this list, now it consists of 21 countries. Previously, it included India, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Colombia and other states.

Citizens of countries on the "red list" will only be able to enter France for compelling and urgent reasons. They need to take a PCR test for coronavirus no earlier than 48 hours before departure and another test upon arrival. Then foreigners must go into mandatory self-isolation: quarantine will last from seven to ten days, depending on whether the person is vaccinated or not.

According to Attal, Russia was on this list due to the spread in the country of the Indian strain of coronavirus, the so-called delta variant of SARS-CoV-2. Cases of infection with this strain have also been recorded in Namibia. Attal said the Seychelles is also seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases despite more than 60% of the population being vaccinated with vaccines from Sinopharm and AstraZeneca.

In France, up to 10% of new cases of coronavirus infection are from the Indian strain, a government spokesman added.

Last week, the French authorities reported an improvement in the epidemiological situation: on June 15, 3.2 thousand new cases of COVID-19 infection were recorded there per day, compared to 30-35 thousand registered in April. Against this background, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the easing of restrictive measures: from June 17, the wearing of masks on the streets was canceled in the country, and from June 21, the curfew that had been in effect since October last year. However, Attal now urged citizens to be careful to avoid a new increase in the incidence.

According to the World Health Organization, the Indian strain of coronavirus has been found in more than 90 countries, its spread was caused by a high degree of contagiousness and the rejection of some restrictions. Existing vaccines are effective against it, but they remain effective only if the vaccination course is completed, the organization warned.

In France, 5.8 million cases of COVID-19 infection have been confirmed since the beginning of the pandemic, the country is in fourth place in the world in this indicator, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.