Paris said visitors from the UK and European Union member states will not face a mandatory 14-day quarantine despite a move to impose a coronavirus isolation on new arrivals. Ministers have drawn up plans to impose a quarantine on anyone arriving on French territory from “zones where the virus is circulating”. After a meeting of the Council of Ministers, health minister Oliver Veran signalled the draft bill could include travellers from the UK and EU’s Schengen countries.

Mr Veran said: “This quarantine will be imposed on everyone arriving on French soil.”

He added the measures would mostly affect French people or residents in the country returning home from abroad.

The measures are not designed for people arriving in the country while not displaying symptoms, the health minister said.

“The 14 days is for people who are not symptomatic: isolation concerns those who have tested positive for the coronavirus according to a medical assessment,” Mr Veran said.

Arriving visitors could be ordered to isolate in special hotels and medical facilities run by the French authorities.

The proposals are understood to be part of the bill that is needed to extend France’s “state of health emergency” until July 24.

But after the announcement sparked confusion, the French embassy in London said the measures would not be imposed on those arriving from the UK or the Schengen free-travel zone.

The consulate tweeted: “People entering French territory from European countries (EU/Schengen and United Kingdom) will not be affected by the quarantine measure announced in France, the terms of which will be specified shortly.”

France’s borders have been closed to tourists and other non-essential travellers since April 8.

But Paris is still yet to reveal when it intends to allow hotels, restaurants and bars to reopen.

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The French tourism sector, which hosts more than 89 million visitors each year, has bemoaned the decision.

Georges Mela, the mayor of Porto-Vechhio in Corsica, has called on the government to make special arrangements to help kickstart the industry after the pandemic.

He urged Paris to consider “health passports” that allow people free from coronavirus to travel to France.

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He said: “The collapse of the tourist industry would be a catastrophe for the whole of Corsica, one it would take years to recover from.”

Meanwhile the European Union’s disease watchdog have suggested pensioners could be stopped from travelling until a coronavirus vaccine is found.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said vulnerable groups should have their movement restricted ever after lockdowns are lifted.

Its director Dr Andrea Ammon said: “There are clear risk groups that are more affected and more likely to die.

“People who have a higher risk should not travel if the virus is still around.”

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