France will suspend all flights to and from Brazil in an attempt to prevent the spread of the variant of the coronavirus first detected there, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said in parliament.
Questioned by the opposition during the session of questions to the government, Prime Minister Jean Castex assured that «until today, anyone who wished to travel to France from Brazil could only do so out of imperative necessity.»
“Everyone had to present a negative test prior to boarding, a negative test on arrival and a 10-day isolation period,” insisted the Prime Minister, who finally remarked that “we observe that the situation is getting worse and, therefore, we have decided to suspend all flights between Brazil and France until further notice.
Health Minister Olivier Veran said in March that 6% of COVID-19 cases in France were of the most contagious variants first found in Brazil and South Africa.
The government measure is part of a repeated request by French doctors to suspend air traffic with Brazil due to the increasing incidence of the Manaus, Belo Horizonte and São Paulo variants, with higher proven transmissibility and higher mortality under study.
Air France, which operates 11 weekly flights to Brazil -7 to São Paulo and 4 to Rio de Janeiro- will see its operations affected. LATAM does not fly to the French capital since December 2020.
