France Updates Travel Restrictions

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@charlie26, think it’s Tui

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Heading to France this weekend (from Ireland)

Honestly I think it'll be the last week of "normal" skiing to be got there (if we get the full week out of it). I think we are days away from large sectors of ski resorts having to be shut due to not enough lift operators, pisteurs etc. Not to mention not enough hotel or restaurant staff, hospital staff, transportation personnel, air traffic controllers etc. And I think we're weeks away from peak of this. I just can't see schools opening as normal in most countries next week. Hospitals in Ireland scrambling to make emergency plans to cancel elective activity next month due to nursing shortages. I think it's not certain French resorts will even be open week after next, so Brits may not be missing out too much. Austria probably 1-2 weeks behind thanks to recent lockdown which suppressed numbers very effectively

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@peanuthead, why do you think that? not what I'm hearing (on the ground).

That said I couldn't get a (badly needed) haircut this week due absences and distancing scheduling ...

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It seems it’s not that difficult for Brits to get into France to ski I’ve seen a few Strava ski activities this week!

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@under a new name, that's exactly why(not being able to get haircut, luckily my son just did me).

I see it here where our case numbers per population are almost the same as France, how many places/ businesses are suddenly struggling to provide any kind of service, only managing by people not being rostered to work being called in... this will be x2/3 next week. If this thing is going around like common cold it might be impossible to not get it. Public Health officials predicting peak of this around 4 weeks or so, then it will get a lot lot worse, UNLESS, governments completely change strategy and only test symptomatic people, abolish isolation for vaccinated close contacts, shorten isolation period for people with positive test to more like 5 days as long as they're feeling better. But to do this safely it would require coworkers to be vaccinated so vaccine mandates, won't even get into that

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@peanuthead, on what do you base such a gloomy assessment!? Sounds like you're in Ireland not France at the moment so not sure how you come to that conclusion. We've been here in Argentiere (Chamonix Valley) for a couple of weeks and everything is busy and functioning fine (apart from Patagonia being closed, but that just makes life cheaper). Some light touch new French restrictions coming in next week but nothing to really effect day to day life.

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@peanuthead, @under a new name, I did say this afternoon that I'm surprised that they have not put more effort into grooming the cross country pistes after Wednesday's deluge, and maybe just not possible, or they don't have the resources due to staff shortages and they're concentrating all their effort on the downhill pistes?

Think it will be bar and restaurant closures first before lifts etc

Friends in Eymet Dordogneshire reporting that Mairie has stopped all bars and restaurants opening tonight.

@peanuthead, oh, well in that case, the banking system will collapse, we won’t be able to buy food and our water will no longer be potable.

In which case, I’ll be very happy I have touring skis and a crossbow Happy

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Current requirements in Chamonix:

Wearing a mask is compulsory from 11 years old in the queues of all ski lifts (indoor & outdoor), and in all points of sale.
It is also compulsory when traveling in all ski lifts (including chairlifts).
Skiers are required to wear a surgical mask or a category 1 fabric mask.
Filtering neck warmers or approved washable masks should be encouraged to avoid pollution of ski areas and excursion sites with disposable masks.

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@under a new name, @Weathercam, @peanuthead, I don’t think the assessment is accurate in that everything will stop functioning but I do think we need a rethink on isolation if hospitalisations for covid remain low, there will be a tipping point where a ‘pingdemic’ is worse for society than the actual epidemic.

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@Levi215, I think within next week pingdemic will be clearly worse than omicron pandemic. How bad it gets will depend on how long they persist with isolation and quarantine rules (definitely they will see sense long before banking system collapses)

But I think we'll see a little chaos before then which will be serious trek for some

What about 22nd Jan? I've got a diy trip planned to Les Arcs via Geneva I don't fancy my chances or all the hoops to be honest, I'll probably be ringing BA next week to do something with my flights and hope France is open mid March.

You know it makes sense.

Have read through the thread and the rules, so just double checking.

Geneva to Courmayeur on a flixbus that stops in Chamonix and through the Mont Blanc tunnel is NOT allowed, right?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@Levi215, @peanuthead, I know at least two popular local businesses who have stopped testing … not worth the risk … also just about everyone I know didn’t test, cos’ xmas … pingdemics don’t happen if you neither test nor trace

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@swskier, Have a look at the post by GeorgeVII on the last page (52)

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@swskier, I don't know but there is a Switzerland Italy route via the Grand St Bernard tunnel that would avoid France completely. But another 100km. Comes up as the cycling option on my phone's Google Maps.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@albob, so it's been done, but doesn't mean it was necessarily legal. Don't want to book the flixbus and be refused entry or something, although appreciate it's likely we won't have any issues.

@colinstone, we're looking at the flixbus specifically and that stops via Chamonix. (£6.99 each way per person!!)

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@under a new name, Ireland have stopped pcr tests for under 40s (We have 20,000 cases per day but only capacity to do 45000 pcr tests per day so go figure). If you don't test you won't be positive... But I think businesses will be cutting a very fine line if they have coughing staff in view of clientele who haven't been sent home and for test

I'm sorry if I sound like trolling but I can't see how there will be anything like service as normal in ski resorts by mid January, assuming scientists are correct and this wave won't peak for another few weeks

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@swskier, OK. £6.99 - wow bargain.

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@under a new name, @peanuthead, It doesn't surprise me that people have stopped testing, I think currently I'd argue that if people 'can work' i.e. they're not too ill to go in then they should be in. The current data appears to support mild illness and as someone said previously, "living with it" means people will die of it, similar to other winter illnesses that develop into pneumonia and it appears that the current iteration is so infectious it'd be a miracle if you didn't get it?

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@Levi215, agree with you 100%

@robs1, it's very possible that Boris Johnson comes out of this looking very good! (Depends in what happens with hospitals in UK, i understand from colleagues it is currently not pretty, in London at least, so hospitalizations situation there could go either way)

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@peanuthead, the latest data is quire stark…. ‘Only’ 14 deaths from Omicron so far and between 52 and 96 (so in a window where death rates are higher so could have been for other reasons). 130 hospitalisations with Omicron - 40% of hospital admissions in London (significantly low vaccination rates). Of the 130, only 17 had received their booster.

I think I’m right that these people could have gone into hospital with loads of other things but it if they have Omicron then they are a covid stat.

So I tend to agree that the UK and France are both playing the waiting game as the initial stats suggest the booster is really effective - this might be good news for those wanting to go skiing in a month or so when more data out as this thing could be no worse than a cold.

The UK is tending to lead the way in using evidence based decision making - Marcron tried to ban the AZ vaccine. UK went out on a limb with the gap between first and second jabs and again Macron (and the world) scoffed. Both were shown to be absolutely spot on and they held firm. Not sure I’d give BoJo credit for that (although he did have the confidence to follow the science when political posturing like Macron would have delivered a different strategy) but clear to me that we have work leading quality scientists who have the confidence in their ability and advice. Not sure I’d want to argue against the brains of Whitty / Valance / JVT!

You can tell that I dont have a lot of time for Macron ….. like many outside of Paris !

(As an aside about 250 people a day die from smoking related diseases in the UK and we know how to stop that but don't hear much clamouring for smoking to be banned)

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Rolling average last 7 days, UK is only 1000 cases per million difference than France. That is 0.1% or 1 in 1000
Weekly cases increase, then France is 50% higher than the UK.
This is Political. Macron ruining french tourism to save face with fishermen.

Quite funny how many people here hate Macron and don't live in France.

I live here and have a business here and would happily vote for him (if I was allowed), I think he has handled things way better than any of the Tory ladies' bottoms ever could.

You are all welcome to your view especially those of you who clearly read the spectator & torygraph too much Smile

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

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@timlongs, I think there is a vocal minority here who "need" to blame someone else - whether it's the French, Scottish, or Germans or whatever.

The pattern isn't that difficult to discern, and as you say smacks of the readership of certain periodicals...........

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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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@alti - dude, @j b, I fully agree omicron is a mild illness

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2787776?guestAccessKey=919da83d-b6f9-4e05-8de1-05cca4541a59&utm_source=silverchair&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=article_alert-jama&utm_content=olf&utm_term=123021

Now some evidence backing same up in JAMA

The damage won't be done by sickness, but by staff absenteeism. I just think that within a week or 2 that will reach crisis level, and it will take couple of weeks for that damage to be unwound. And the disruption won't just affect France. Italy highly likely also, Austria a week or 2 behind, unless scientists and governments can accept the best way to handle this is stop testing people unless they are sick, but this can only work if people are vaccinated because it's possible omicron is still life threatening for unvaccinated (or immunocompromised)

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France Updates Travel Restrictions

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