Epidemiologist Catherine Hill warned how the situation is already “really bad” in France and it is too late to be implementing a travel ban on Britons which came into force at midnight on Friday evening. Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Jean Castex introduced a series of new measures targeting UK tourists this week in light of growing numbers of Omicron-related infections.
Speaking to BBC News on Saturday the expert stressed that France is already being gripped by the fifth wave of COVID-19 and that the Delta variant, not Omicron is driving infections.
But she stressed that will soon change as Omicron is already taking hold in the country, with 50,000 COVID-19 infections a day.
She warned hospital admissions are now “submerging” Intensive Care Units across France, with patients being transferred up and down the country to ease pressures in certain areas.
3,000 people are currently in intensive care units in France with COVID-19.
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The epidemiologist went on to slam that as a result, “pretty much zero” impact will be made following France’s decision to shut borders to the UK and that the virus is likely to be rampaging across France already.
She said: “The Omicron is already in France and a lot of people travelled before yesterday. So closing borders simply does not work! It makes no difference!”
Ms Hill said a booster campaign in France to build immunity against the virus was being rolled out at a similar speed to the UK, with around 900,000 jabs per day going into arms in order to tackle rising cases.
But epidemiologists acknowledged France is “not very good” at delivering primary vaccinations to older people.
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The Frenchman also warned that Omicron will be the dominant variant in France by beginning of 2022.
Speaking on Friday, Mr Castex said that Omicron “does not seem to be more dangerous than the Delta variant”.
He suggested how the “data available to us indicate that complete vaccination coverage with the booster dose protects well against severe forms of the disease”.
The decision to slam the borders shut sparked travel chaos at the Port of Dover and at St Pancras station on Friday as thousands rushed to beat the midnight deadline.