It is 6 p.m. this Tuesday evening when Virginia puts her last suitcases in the trunk of the family station wagon. This 38-year-old Londoner is preparing to return to Uxbridge, in the west of the British capital, from Montfermeil (Seine-Saint-Denis) where she spent a month between vacation and teleworking, with her French companion expatriate in London. She tries as best she can to put away shopping bags filled to the brim with last-minute purchases.
Preserves of Montbéliard sausages, shepherd's pie, sauerkraut or even cassoulet can be guessed under the plastic bags. “We did the shopping in France to avoid contact as much as possible when we arrived,” she explains. And for good reason: with his two blond heads of 3 and 10 years old and his companion, they left for 15 days of forced quarantine.
Countdown
Like her, 500,000 Britons in France learned the news on the evening of Thursday, August 13. Boris Johnson's government has placed France in the category of countries at risk in the face of the increase in coronavirus cases in the country. Many have tried to take the boat, train or plane to arrive before Saturday, August 15, 4 am in order to escape this constraint. Which caused a huge rush on Friday. For all those who have not been able to embark and will have to undergo two weeks of isolation, another countdown has now started: to be able to go out before the start of the school year in Great Britain between September 3 and 5, depending on the establishment. .
"The decision was taken so quickly ... If the imposed quarantine had affected the return to school of my children, I would have been extremely annoyed", indicates Virginia who continues: "we had to fill out a form to say where we were going. spend our next few weeks and leave our contact details, in case there is a control by the authorities ”.
Samy Ahmar, 34, the health director of the British branch of the NGO Save the Children returned to his apartment in north London on Sunday evening. “My children's school was clear: if a family is placed in a fortnight, it is impossible for them to come back,” he explains. So we decided to shorten our vacation by 2.5 weeks to finish the fortnight before the start of the school year. "
Gare du Nord, travelers to England prepare to spend fourteen days at home
Installed in England for 15 years, the executive considers the measure unjustified: "I am sure that if it was the scientists who decided on a policy to be implemented, they would have recommended systematic tests for arrivals from France, which lots of countries in the world do. In England, quarantine is mandatory regardless of whether you present a negative test.
Excessive ticket exchange
But he puts his situation into perspective: “I'm not to be pitied even if it's boring. My children are 7 and 9 years old and I will continue to telework with them next door in our apartment, whereas we could have had much more space in France, ”he concludes.
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For Alexandre, on the other hand, it is always uncertainty. He leaves in exchange for the University of Warwick in mid-September and will miss several days of lessons. "The prices of a ticket exchange dissuaded me from leaving earlier than expected," he breathes. He will therefore not be present for the integration week and will miss the first week of lessons. “I'm going to spend fourteen days isolated in a student residence with shared bathroom and kitchen. I do not know what it will give. "
