France eases travel restrictions for 7 non-EU countries including UK

France on Thursday eased travel restrictions for 7 non-EU countries including UK. Other countries include Australia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea.

France had banned all travel from outside the EU in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The measure had been adopted in large part to limit the spread of the more infectious variant of Covid-19 that first emerged in England.

But due to the changing pandemic situation, "it will no longer be necessary to prove a compelling reason for travel to or from Australia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the United Kingdom," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Travellers from these seven countries will still need to present negative COVID-19 test result. The test should have been taken a maximum of 72 hours beforehand.

Travel to other countries outside the EU still remains limited to essential reasons but the foreign ministry said the number of exemptions are being increased to allow couples to reunite and children to attend school.