France to ease COVID-19 isolation rules: government

France will relax COVID-19 isolation rules from Monday, the government announced, in a bid to ease their impact on society and the economy.

Fully vaccinated people who test positive will only have to isolate for seven days regardless of the coronavirus variant they were infected with, but can leave quarantine after five days if they show an antigen or negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

There will be no quarantine for fully inoculated individuals who have a close contact test positive. However, people must respect protective measures and "undergo regular testing," French Health Minister Olivier Veran said in an interview with local media.

Until now, those who tested positive in France had to isolate for 10 days with their close contacts also quarantined for a week. The maximum isolation period could be up to 17 days – regardless of the variant – if a household contains a positive case.

The change in rules responds to the need "to take into account the extremely rapid evolution of the spread of the Omicron variant in France."

It should allow a "benefit-risk balance aimed at ensuring the virus is controlled while maintaining socio-economic life," said France's Ministry of Health.

Additionally, "the first available virological data" showed "the incubation period of Omicron appears to be faster than previous variants, favoring a possible reduction in the length of isolation."

Meanwhile, people who test positive for the virus – but who are not fully vaccinated – must complete a 10-day quarantine, according to the same rules, but shortened to seven should they present a positive antigen or negative PCR test.

The seven-day quarantine remains for close unvaccinated contacts, who must show a negative test to leave isolation.

On Saturday, the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in France surpassed the 10 million mark, with 219,126 new cases detected in the past 24 hours. It is the fourth consecutive day that France reported a daily count of over 200,000 COVID-19 cases.

Starting from Monday, wearing face masks in certain public areas from the age of 6 will be mandatory, according to the government's new measures.

France has placed the United States on its "red list" for travel restrictions. From Saturday, non-vaccinated travelers arriving from the United States must undergo a 10-day quarantine. Non-vaccinated French travelers must have a compelling reason to travel to the United States as well.

(CGTN)