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NEW COVID RULES MEAN PEOPLE IN FRANCE CANNOT TRAVEL OVER 10KM FROM THEIR HOMES WITHOUT A VALID REASON, BUT TRAVEL WITHIN THE EU IS STILL – TECHNICALLY - ALLOWED A travel loophole has come to
light related to the new semi-confinement rules which begin this weekend in a bid to stem the spread of Covid-19. From 19:00 on Saturday, April 3, people in France will have to stay within
10km of their homes which will be the case for at least a month unless they have an exceptional reason to travel further. READ MORE: NEW SEMI-CONFINEMENT IN FRANCE: WHAT YOU CAN AND CANNOT
DO But they can still reserve tickets for international flights, taking them much further away from home than permitted under the semi-confinement rules. Travel to and from most countries
outside the European Union has been suspended in France, except in exceptional circumstances, since January 31. These RESTRICTIONS HAVE SINCE BEEN EASED FOR SEVEN NON-EU COUNTRIES - the UK,
Australia, South Korea, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore. But international travel within the EU is still allowed as long as travellers present a negative PCR test taken within 72
hours of the start of the trip. EU TRAVEL STILL POSSIBLE, IN THEORY Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari told _EUROPE 1_ that booking flights to go to other European countries from
France was still “theoretically possible”. “You can travel, notably if you have a negative PCR test,” he said. “But more and more countries are applying travel restrictions like quarantine
on arrival, which is a big deterrent.” He said in reality the ability to fly overseas was “being used very little”. Italy recently announced that it would require all people arriving from EU
countries to quarantine for five days. In France, there is no quarantine requirement for people arriving from EU countries, but people from outside the EU should complete a seven-day
quarantine and take a PCR test in this period. But, the existing EU travel allowance may not last. Mr Djebbari said no decisions had been made so far but the “question would be discussed on
Friday morning (April 2)”. A decision is expected later today. RELATED STORIES COVID-19 FRANCE: BORDER AND VARIANT UPDATES FOR MARCH 31 TALKS ON UK-FRANCE POTENTIAL TRAVEL RED-LISTING
EXPECTED TODAY