PARIS: French health authorities are racing to contain scattered cases of the more contagious delta virus variant, as the country prepares to reopen its borders to vaccinated visitors and celebrates plunging Covid-19 infection and hospitalization rates.
Health minister Olivier Veran said on Sunday that France has multiple clusters of the variant, first identified in India, notably in the southwest Landes region.
Speaking on BFM television, Veran said the variant hadn’t spread widely into the community and that health investigators are working to trace cases and stop their spread.
The delta variant is now dominant in Britain, and its spread has prompted France and some other countries to impose new restrictions on visitors from Britain.
Overall, Veran insisted, “the epidemic situation continues to strongly improve around the country.” The French public health agency’s latest weekly epidemiological report shows a steady and sustained drop in virus infections, hospitalization rates and deaths even after France started reopening schools, stores, and restaurants last month.
More than half the adult population has had at least one vaccine dose, and nearly a quarter are fully vaccinated.