UK passengers on France travel restrictions

Tourists and the travel industry vented frustration and anger on Saturday after Britain reversed a plan to ease travel restrictions on France just two days after they were due to start, citing concerns about a variant of the coronavirus.

The move comes despite the fact that France currently has lower rates of the virus than the U.K., where the highly contagious delta variant is driving a surge in infections.

The U.K. government announced late Friday that people arriving from France must self-isolate for 10 days on entering Britain, even if they are fully vaccinated.

The announcement came just days after the government said vaccinated U.K. residents will no longer face quarantine starting Monday when arriving from dozens of countries classed as “amber,” or medium, on Britain’s traffic-light system of coronavirus risk.

The amber list includes the United States, Canada and much of Europe.

British health authorities say France is being singled out because of the beta variant, first identified in South Africa, which is believed to be more resistant to vaccines than other strains.

The beta variant accounts for about 10% of cases in France, but much less than 1% of cases in Britain. In both countries, the delta variant first identified in India is dominant.