France bans UK travellers

[XmasSadface]

Could we maybe stop doing so much testing in the UK so we stop reporting these case rises which makes us look worse than countries that dont test?

PS: I totally get the point of vaccination and am triple jabbed. But what's the point of the vaccine PASSES if having one makes zero difference? Now I'm triple jabbed I'm considering not getting any more boosters as you still have to mess around testing like an unvaccinated person

It isn't specific to the Uk, all non EEC and associated countries (eg Switzerland and Norway) have the same restrictions

France are clocking 70,000 cases a day and rising, absolute rubbish there are only 240 cases of omicron. I know 6 of those (they were told it's omicron) and live in a very small untouristy french city and none of those 6 have been abroad recently. The border closing is all political.

@Viviennemary

And even reporting deaths. Because somebody has covid withiin 30 days of death then they are included in the covid death statistics. Its madness. Its like saying somebody wiith terminal cancer with a common cold died of a cold. Sorry if this is insensitive but its really wrong.

Agreed. They should publish deaths where covid is named as a contributing cause on the death certificate.

@IcedPurple

*cheers for taking the time with formatting but honestly I can’t be arsed to dissect Frances decision to the level you’re looking for.

Since you don't have access to any special information or insights, that's fine with me.

Ah, sorry. I didn’t realise you were using MN as a substitute for Google.

@Continentalmama

France are clocking 70,000 cases a day and rising, absolute rubbish there are only 240 cases of omicron. I know 6 of those (they were told it's omicron) and live in a very small untouristy french city and none of those 6 have been abroad recently. The border closing is all political.

Crazy response

Not yours I mean I agree Continental

France recorded 63400 cases yesterday. They test much less than the UK so it is likely higher and they don't sequence as much.
If we are to believe that Omicron has not yet established in France and they are getting 60k+ cases of Delta then they are in a far worse position than us when Omicron does arrive.

I should think they are concerned about the ski trips from UK during school hols.
I reckon they are a bit behind us on omicron so are doing what we did a couple of weeks back, ie travel ban to slow things while they boost (they are going all guns blazing on boosters)
No idea why people on MN taking it so seriously/getting huffy

[quote XmasSadface]@Cornettoninja

I'm not taking the ban personally but I'm upset I will be spending Christmas without my sister because Emmanuel Macron wants to pretend theres no omicron in france and look like hes being proactive in the hope of getting re elected next year.[/quote]
In exactly the same way I am spending Christmas in the UK instead of in Cape Town with my family because the UK penalised SA for identifying the variant only to admit defeat and U-turn after two weeks and cancelled plans. Honestly, we dish out and we should be able to take it as well!

@theculture

It isn't specific to the Uk, all non EEC and associated countries (eg Switzerland and Norway) have the same restrictions

I’m unclear what you mean by that..just to avoid confusion with regard to what the announcement being discussed:

In all the statements/news reports I’ve seen here today it’s been made very clear the restrictions announced by the French government this AM were restrictions on travel between France and the “Royaume-Uni”…

Meh if they want to buy time to do more boosters seems sensible, probably not that arsed though as have zero desire to go to france- sad for those who have plans and family there though.

Macron should focus on getting his vaccine uptake rate up as its lower than the official figures, one of my sisters neighbours has bought a vaccine pass, apparently this is a thing now (it costs shit loads though and presumably you have to buy a new one every 6 months)

Does anyone know if French residents can travel to the uk and back, or is this banned too?

I’m not personally getting huffy. It doesn’t affect me. I just feel for people with plans to see family.

And in hindsight do we think the travel ban worked here to slow Omicron?

The WHO doesn’t recommend travel bans in this situation.

But yes, France are doing what we did. Only difference is they’ve seen it didn’t work for us. I think they should assume it won’t work for them either. They are just a few weeks behind us whatever they choose to do.

Best bet for any country is to focus on boosters. And divert all time and energy in to that and stop dicking about with travel bans that don’t work.

@milkyaqua

There was a lot of mention of the new cases yesterday on the data thread.

There was a lot of delicate skirting around it.

The U.K. is a global travel hub. It also tests more per capita than most of the world. Blackballing it because of Omicron is laughable at this point. Omicron is ridiculously transmissible and has a doubling time of 2.5 days. Nowhere (short of perhaps Pitcairn Island) will keep it out, and the “buying time” argument holds little water with something that can grow as quickly as this.

The NFL is an interesting example. Suddenly this week 100 players have caught Covid, and the league thinks many (i.e. probably all) of them are Omicron. America has an Omicron problem. But there’s no publicity around it because unlike the U.K. there is no attempt to communicate the gravity of the situation to the public.

[quote XmasSadface]@DismantledKing
How do passes (not vaccines, passes) control the spread?[/quote]
Passes don’t control spread. They document something, and also enable a piece of information to be confirmed without releasing the underlying personal information:

e.g. my current UK Covid pass knows that I have had:
2 x astra Zeneca as my primary course of vaccination & the date
1 x Moderna as a booster & the date
2 x negative PCRs
Many x negative LFTs

By checking those it can decide if they give me a valid pass and give me something that I can show others that ‘qualifies’ me for an activity but doesn’t tell them if it’s because I’m vaccinated, because I’ve had recent negative tests or a combination

It could have infections added, and therefore count a recovered infection as allowing for antibodies

None of the above guarantee they level of antibodies someone has (though there are tests for that)
And someone could put in fake LFT negatives

What it does do is allow the risk of an event to be considered

I could be clear today, but have a fresh infection fighting against my immune system that isn’t yet detectable and subsequently pass it on to someone else
Someone could falsify their pass with fake results and not care if they knowingly or unknowingly pass on an infection

A pass system doesn’t do everything but it does more than nothing

@Hizz the UK is less than half the size of France though, so proportionately our death rate is way worse...

@Viviennemary

And even reporting deaths. Because somebody has covid withiin 30 days of death then they are included in the covid death statistics. Its madness. Its like saying somebody wiith terminal cancer with a common cold died of a cold. Sorry if this is insensitive but its really wrong.

I know several people who died of Covid well after the 30 day cutoff.

As a PP said, it's not a reliable marker either way.

[quote ChewyNougat]@Hizz the UK is less than half the size of France though, so proportionately our death rate is way worse...[/quote]
France is twice the size of Britain geographically, but the two countries have an almost identical population size.

I wonder if omicron rates are currently lower in the ski resorts? And they are worried about Brits coming and spreading it around maybe?

They are ahead of us on vax already, they used mRNA not AZ (mainly) and are doing as many/more daily boosters than us (think they extended to all over 18s some time in November) so not sure why people having a crack at French vax effort either.

I am also sorry for people who will be unable to see family at Christmas - I am one of them.

Wondering if any other EU countries will follow suit.

Sorry about not seeing your sister, op. That really does suck

@Hizz

They should look at the death rate 7 day average to 15th Dec UK 115 7 day average to 15th Dec France 136

Yes, this is a fine example of how much bullshit the French numbers are! If you ever want to know what the infection rate is in a country, as opposed to the one they admit to, look at the death rate.

Was wondering about America. Have a friend due to travel over here and she is worried as ‘it’s so awful over there (England)’ which I understand as travel at the moment is tricky. But I’m not sure how things are in the US? You just don’t hear much. Do the press not whip things up like they do over here?
Do they think they won’t have an Omicron problem?

This is going to be a worldwide issue. We’re not just the plague island over here.

Details from the French website

www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/coming-to-france/coming-to-france-your-covid-19-questions-answered/?fbclid=IwAR0ABnS47mx7DVJM4nfNFFJV1JjeOCrZ7V-gSJT2eoYRB-gKzCZrGFfF070

@GirlWithTheYellowHat

Does anyone know if French residents can travel to the uk and back, or is this banned too?

AFAIK it’s not banned but it’s being discouraged..