Health pass proposed to restart foreign travel to France

Foreign tourists with a Covid-19 “health pass” will be allowed to visit France again from June 9.

The planned relaxation of entry restrictions to the country came as part of a series of measures to ease lockdown measures from next month.

A four-stage plan outlined by president Emmanuel Macron aims to largely reopen France by June 30.

Travellers from outside the EU will be able to enter France on June 9. But they will need to show a health pass, with details not yet disclosed, but likely to include either a vaccine certificate or a negative PRC test.

A pass will also be needed to attend large events.

Marcon, detailing his plans to French newspapers, said: “The health pass should not be mandatory for access to everyday things such as restaurants, theatres and cinemas or to go see friends.

“But for places with big crowds, such as stadiums, festivals, trade fairs or exhibitions, it would be absurd not to use it.”

France’s Covid infection rate has dropped since introducing a third lockdown on April 3, but numbers remain high in some areas.

Marcon’s four stage plan for easing restrictions:

• On May 3, secondary-school and high-school pupils will start returning to in-person classes. Rules on travelling will end
• On May 19, a current 7pm nightly curfew will be pushed back to 9pm. Cafes and restaurants will be able to reopen outside. Non-essential shops, cinemas, museums and theatres will be able to open, with restrictions on visitors.
• On June 9, the curfew will pushed back again to 11pm. A “health pass” will be introduced for those attending stadiums and large events, and for foreign tourists entering the country
• On June 30, the curfew will be lifted completely but nightclubs will remain shut

Macron said it was time to start “resuming our French-style way of life”, and people needed “conviviality”, culture and sport. But he added that people needed to remain “careful and responsible”.

While he said he hoped the measures would ease across the whole country, an “emergency brake” could be used “in territories where the virus is too present”.