The Scientific Council recommended advancing the curfew in Guyana, in an opinion on the fight against the Brazilian variant of the coronavirus, also widely followed by the government on travel restriction measures.
In this opinion dated April 16 and posted online Sunday, the body responsible for advising the government recommended measures to prevent "
a risk of extension of the
Brazilian
variant
", which
"must be taken into account during the summer".
Read also: Covid-19: what is the situation in Guyana, French territory a stone's throw from the Brazilian variant?
"
Currently, no signal of a particular evolution of the BR-P1 variant (its scientific designation) has been observed" in metropolitan France, where its "detection is marginal
", writes the Council, which notes that on the other hand its "
incidence is increasing. strongly in Guyana ”
, which shares more than 700 kilometers of border with Brazil and where the P1 variant has become the majority.
For Guyana, the Council therefore recommended, in addition to tests before any trip to the mainland or the French West Indies, already in force or announced on Saturday, the extension of confinement to Sunday, effectively announced on April 16 for several municipalities in the territory, and the advancement of the weekday curfew from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., which has not been decided.
The council also recommended measures to restrict and supervise travel to the metropolis from foreign countries affected by the Brazilian variant, widely taken into account, and even strengthened, in the government's announcements on Saturday evening.
Read also: Covid-19: quarantine for travelers from Brazil, Argentina, Chile and South Africa
Paris had announced on April 13 the suspension of flights from Brazil and Matignon added on Saturday the establishment of a 10-day quarantine and repeated tests for travelers from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, all affected by the Brazilian variant, and from South Africa, where another variant is rife.
In addition to such a quarantine, the Scientific Council recommended negative PCR tests less than 48 hours before departure, a period reduced to 36 hours by government announcements.
The Council considered on the other hand that the suspension of the flights should in addition to Brazil “be set up with other countries of South America”, but was not followed on this point.
