publish time

26/07/2020

author name Arab Times

publish time

26/07/2020

KUWAIT CITY, July 26: France will require on-the-spot COVID-19 tests for people arriving from 16 countries where there is widespread contamination of the virus, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting Prime Minister Jean Castex. Along with the United States and Brazil, which are reporting tens of thousands of new cases each day, the countries include Algeria, Bahrain, Israel, India, South Africa, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Panama, Peru, Serbia, Turkey and Madagascar.

Castex also said that coronavirus tests will be rolled out across France by Aug 1, and will also be carried out at French ports. The tests will be for “French citizens who live in these countries or citizens of these countries with an established residence in France,” Castex told reporters at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport.

Travelers testing positive will be required to spend 14 days in isolation to prevent the spread of the virus. Castex said some of the high-risk countries already require airline passengers to show a negative virus test before boarding. It was not clear if those would be re-tested upon arrival in France.

He also did not specify if people would have to wait for their test results before being allowed to leave the airport. Morocco, which has reported rising cases in recent weeks, is not on the list for now but could be added later, an official in the prime minister’s office said