France decides to suspend entry from non-EU countries

France will suspend entry and exit from countries outside the European Union (EU) from 31 January, as part of preventive measures against coronavirus. In a statement to the media after the meeting of the Defense Council chaired by President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said that the situation with the pandemic is alarming and that the curfew was implemented from 18:00 to 06:00 has been effective, but insufficient. Castex stated that they would not take a decision on re-quarantine for now, but announced additional measures. "Entry and exit from non-EU countries in France will be banned from January 31, except in essential cases," said Castex, announcing that the PCR test will be mandatory for people coming from EU countries. of, except those working at the frontiers. Castex stated that large shopping malls where food products are not sold will be closed from January 31st. He said police and gendarmerie would tighten controls during the hours when exit is prohibited and stressed that people should work from home as much as possible. Otherwise, during the last day, France reported nearly 23 thousand new cases of COVID-19, to bring the total number of infected to over 3.15 million.