Tag: France

New Covid records in US, UK, France as Omicron runs rampant

by Daniel Lawler with AFP bureaus PARIS, France (AFP) — The US, Britain, France and Australia have all announced record numbers of daily Covid-19 cases as the WHO warned Tuesday that Omicron’s dizzying spread increased the risk of newer, more dangerous variants emerging. Britain breached 200,000 cases for the first time on Tuesday, Australia posted almost 50,000 and France registered more than 270,000, all three countries easily topping their previous records. But dwarfing even those […]

France to ease Covid isolation rules: government

France will relax Covid isolation rules from Monday, the government announced, in a bid to ease their impact on society and the economy. Fully vaccinated people who test positive will only have to isolate for seven days regardless of the coronavirus variant they were infected with, but can leave quarantine after five days if they show an antigen or negative PCR test. There will be no quarantine for fully inoculated individuals who have a close […]

France says children must wear masks on transport from age six

Children on French public transport will soon have to wear a face mask from the age of six upwards, the government decreed Saturday, as part of its latest measures against coronavirus. Masks had previously been compulsory from the age of 11, but Paris is tightening regulations given the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. Children aged six and older will have to don a mask on all means of public transport within national borders from […]

France to impose more work-from-home in Covid fight

by Joseph Schmid PARIS, France (AFP) — France will order companies to impose at least three work-from-home days a week for employees whenever possible to stem a fifth wave of Covid infections, Prime Minister Jean Castex said Monday. The new measure, which will be in place for at least three weeks, is one of several announced after a crisis cabinet meeting on the new Omicron variant, which is again threatening to overwhelm hospitals. The meeting […]

French arrest man over chemical weapons parts in Syria

PARIS, France (AFP) – A French-Syrian man has been detained by French police on suspicion of supplying components for the manufacture of chemical weapons in Syria through his shipping company, sources briefed on the case told AFP Sunday. The man, who was born in 1962 and lives abroad, was arrested Saturday in the south of France according to one of the sources. “He returned to France with his family for the holidays,” a source close […]

France breaks 100,000 barrier for 24-hour Covid infections

Covid infections in France hit six figures Saturday, health officials recording 104,611 cases over the previous 24 hours, the third consecutive day the numbers have been record highs. The latest figures, from France’s public health agency, come ahead of a video-conference meeting Monday in which President Emmanuel Macron and key members of his government will discuss new Covid safety measures. Officials are concerned about the effect of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. Already […]

No mountain high enough: Study finds plastic in ‘clean’ air

PARIS, France (AFP) – From Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench, microplastics are everywhere – even high in the Earth’s troposphere where wind speeds allow them to travel vast distances, a study showed Tuesday. Microplastics are tiny fragments — measuring less than 5 millimetres — that come from packaging, clothing, vehicles and other sources and have been detected on land, in water and in the air. Scientists from the French national research institute CNRS sampled […]

France to ban non-essential UK travel over Omicron surge

  by Stuart WILLIAMS Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — France will ban non-essential travel to and from Britain from the weekend to slow the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant that is causing record numbers of cases on the other side of the Channel, the government said Thursday. From midnight Saturday (2300 GMT Friday) there will be a “requirement to have an essential reason to travel to, or come from, the UK, both […]

Vienna-Paris night train is reborn, empty

by Jean LIOU Agence France-Presse On board the Vienna-Paris night train, Austria (AFP) – The timing could perhaps have been better. With a resurgence of Covid-19 gripping Europe, there were no paying passengers for the maiden voyage of the reborn night train linking Paris and Vienna. A return of night trains to the Old Continent is seen as symbolic of the efforts to shift travel from the air back to rail as Europe seeks to meet […]

France records more than 50,000 daily Covid cases

PARIS, France (AFP) — France on Saturday said more than 50,000 people had tested positive for coronavirus in the past 24 hours, as Covid-19 cases rocketed despite millions receiving a vaccine booster shot. The country recorded 51,624 new daily cases of Covid, health authorities said. France has recorded an average of almost 41,000 new cases a day over the past week, compared to less than 28,000 a week ago. Some 694 people had been admitted […]

Over 30 die in Channel’s deadliest migrant boat tragedy

by Bernard BARRON with Sylvie MALIGORNE and Stuart WILLIAMS in Paris CALAIS, France (AFP) — At least 31 migrants trying to reach England from France died on Wednesday when their boat sank off the northern French coast, the deadliest disaster since the Channel became a hub for clandestine crossings. President Emmanuel Macron vowed France would not allow the Channel to become a “cemetery” and called for an emergency meeting of European ministers on the crisis. […]

French PM tests positive for Covid

PARIS, France (AFP) — French Prime Minister Jean Castex tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday evening, his office told AFP, adding that he would isolate for 10 days while continuing to work. Castex “immediately carried out a PCR test” after finding out that one of his daughters had tested positive, his office said. Castex had been in Brussels on Monday morning, where he met his Belgian counterpart Alexander De Croo. He was accompanied on the […]