France to test travellers from 16 coronavirus high-risk countries: PM

French Prime Minister Jean Castex, flanked by French Health Minister Olivier Veran (L) and French Junior Minister for Transports Jean-Baptiste Djebbari (R), takes off his mask before speaking to the press at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, north on Paris on July 24, 2020 during a visit as sanitary measures have been deployed for departing and arriving passengers in order to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus. – Castex announced that a Covid-19 test will be compulsory for passengers proceeding from 16 countries. Europe hit more than three million coronavirus cases on July 23, while spiking infection numbers worldwide led authorities to reimpose restrictions on citizens. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)

ROISSY-CHARLES DE GAUILLE AIRPORT, France (AFP) — France will require on-the-spot COVID-19 tests for people arriving from 16 countries where the pandemic is circulating widely, Prime Minister Jean Castex said Friday.

France does not allow general travel to and from these countries — including the United States and Brazil — so the tests will be for “French citizens who live in these countries or citizens of these countries with an established residence in France” who will be the only ones allowed to enter, Castex told reporters at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport.

© Agence France-Presse