France: FCO issues major update for Paris as coronavirus cases continue to surge | Travel News | Travel
France could be added to the UK’s quarantine exemption list after the country recorded an unprecedented rise in coronavirus cases over the last few weeks. The country’s infection rate has risen from 17 per 100,000 to 26 per 100,000 over the last week. Now the country has updated its advice for wearing masks in order to halt the spread of the virus.
The latest advice, which was updated on the FCO website, reads: “Parisian local authorities have announced that wearing masks in certain busy outdoor public spaces is compulsory from August 10, for those aged 11 and over.
“For more information on the areas this applies to, see the map here on the local authority website (click the link under août to access the PDF).”
Tourists now must wear the masks or face paying a fine of €135 (£120).
Anyone caught breaking the rules more than three times could face six months in prison.
READ MORE: Coronavirus latest: Fears France could be the next quarantine
“Where it is necessary to impose restrictions or to impose a quarantine system, we will not hesitate to do so.
“It’s been a huge effort for the entire population of this country to get the disease down to the levels that we are currently seeing, but we do not want reinfection and that’s why we’ve got to keep a very, very close eye on the data in destinations around the world.”
France has had over 197,000 cases of coronavirus at the time of writing.
It has also recorded over 30,000 deaths.
The country’s health ministry said that a second wave is “likely”.
It said: “The situation is precarious.”
It added: “We could at any moment tip into a scenario that is less under control, like in Spain.
“It is highly likely that we will experience a second epidemic wave this autumn or winter.”
It comes as Spain was removed from the “air bridge” list last month due to a high number of coronavirus cases in the regions of Catalonia, Navarra and Aragon.
Belgium, Andorra and The Bahamas were also removed from the list.
However, Brunei and Malaysia were added to the list.
The review could also see Portugal added to the “safe” list with the country now experiencing a lower case rate.