It is this Wednesday, July 7 that the Covid-19 detection tests become paying for foreign tourists coming to France. They will be billed “up to 49 euros for PCR and 29 euros for antigens,” explained Gabriel Attal, at the time of the announcement of this measure. The government spokesman had spoken of a “question of reciprocity knowing that these tests are paying in most countries for French people who travel” to justify this decision.
Both foreigners and nationals are subject to the health pass. This is valid if one has a complete vaccination schedule (that is to say from a few weeks after the last dose of vaccine required) or thanks to a negative PCR or antigen test of less than seventy-two hours ( to cross a border) or forty-eight hours (to attend an event subject to the pass). Proof of recovery from Covid-19 also works via a positive test this time dating from at least fifteen days and a maximum of six months.
More broadly, after the delisting of screening tests for foreigners, the question of the delisting of so-called “comfort” PCR tests for the French “will obviously arise for the start of the school year,” explained Gabriel Attal. France is one of the few European countries where tests are completely free for patients all the time. This delisting is supposed to promote vaccination, which skates its last weeks in France.