Omicron: Starting Saturday, France will again allow flights from southern Africa. (File)
Paris:
French authorities said on Thursday they had confirmed the first case of the Covid-19 variant Omicron on the mainland, a man in his 50s who recently returned from Nigeria.
The Paris region’s health agency ARS said the man had not been vaccinated against the virus and had no symptoms of Covid when he was tested on arrival on November 25.
The agency said his wife, also unvaccinated, had tested positive for Covid and that sequencing was underway to determine if she also had the Omicron variant, and that their family had placed in quarantine.
Before that, the only confirmed case of Omicron on French territory was detected on Reunion island in the Indian Ocean, although government spokesman Gabriel Attal on Wednesday said 13 suspected cases were being studied. .
The country is facing a fifth wave of increased cases since the pandemic broke out last year, and three hospitals in northeastern France have rolled out emergency procedures for Covid patients. Always fill the hospital bed.
Health Minister Olivier Veran has warned that the average daily cases are likely to surpass the peak of the third wave that occurred last spring, possibly as early as this week.
Starting Saturday, France will once again allow flights from southern Africa, where the Omicron variant was first reported, but only allow French and EU residents to be able to board.
They must take a Covid test upon arrival, with a negative result still subject to a seven-day quarantine, while a positive test will require a 10-day quarantine.
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