Covid tests prior to entry?
 

Yesterday (1 Dec) there were news articles about a new requirement for testing... Many were written or captioned in the present tense, in the articles there was some present, some futur proche (is going to ...). Anybody have any up-to-date info on when this policy is going into effect?

As i understand it, anyone entering France from outside the EU from Saturday will need a PCR test, within 48 hours of departure.
However i've not looked into it in any kind of detail as i'm not planning on leaving France anytime soon so you may want to verify that.

I am not seeing that yet on sites like Skyscanner. If anyone could update with links or further information, that would be helpful.

Kerouac2……unfortunately the Ministry has not updated the new requirements

From the French Consulate in Los Angeles:
Los Angeles Consulat de France


[in French]
A partir du samedi 4 décembre, tous les voyageurs âgés de douze ans ou plus, indépendamment de leur statut vaccinal se rendant en France depuis les Etats-Unis, devront présenter le résultat négatif d’un test PCR ou antigénique à condition que celui-ci détecte la protéine N, de moins de 48h, quel que soit son statut vaccinal.

Thanks all. I think I am just going to make it back under the wire (scheduled to arrive this afternoon [Friday]). Would not be anxious to be a part of this in the early going. The legislation really seems to stipulate 48 hours before the departure (déplacement) which could become a nightmare to interpret with originating flights in the U.S. as the starting point/time?? Not to mention that in the U.S. there is not (to my knowledge) anything like the universal availability of rapid antigenic tests, as in France. So you are darned if you do (take test just within 48 hours, to maximize chance of getting results in time, but in being out of luck if you are re-scheduled last minute on connecting flight within U.S.) and darned if you don't (test early, in which case you might not get a result in time).

The new requirement is applicable since this morning. The 48hrs should be interpreted 48hrs from the departure time of the flight from the outstation.

Right. Got in yesterday, so avoided it.

Just curious who will be enforcing this? A U.S. counter staff member and/or gate agent at an out-station for a flight connecting to an international flight? A U.S. counter staff member and/or gate agent at a city with a non-stop flight to France? A British (BA) or Spanish (IB) gate agent for a flight heading to Paris, for a passenger in transit from the U.S.? Border control agents checking passports and visas at CDG?

I'm not trying to be snarky or cynical or dismissive -- just curious, with a tinge of concern on on side and bemusement on the other. It is one thing to read the official texte juridique with its precision of 48 hours, and another to think of the kindly but-not-especially-internationally-savvy check-in staff I have seen on recent trips. I understand that these kinds of rules are trying to have a positive epidemiological effect, which is to say at the level of the population. Just that, as individual travelers, they create a lot of uncertainty hence anxiety.

Check in agents at outstations are responsible for verifying entry conditions are met (nothing new, its been this way since beginnning of Covid). Random controls are also done upon arrival by either national policing authorties or national health authorities.
If an airline messes up and incorrectly allows someone to board a flight and enter a country without correct documentation, the airline gets a massive fine and the person is set back.

How do we know if the antigen test detects the “n protein”? For example, I have an antigen test scheduled at CVS next week for a trip to France.

Ask the people at CVS whether it detects the N protein. Of course, the person administering the test will have no idea, and will ask someone else (like the pharmacist), who will also have very little clue. I asked someone I know who manages a clinical lab, overseeing hundreds of daily Covid tests, and even she is not sure exactly how you'd find out which tests detect N and which don't.

The good news is that most likely the people checking your test results - airline personnel and/or French border control agents - will also have no clue.

Still, I'm fortunate that there's a local testing site that does rapid PCR at no cost, and apparently all PCR tests are accepted by France.

Duplicate

I wrote directly to the lab that manufactures the specific test CVS is offering at that location and they did confirm that the test detects the “n” protein so I should be all set. And indeed, I was thinking the same thing as you: what Delta / AF employee would know to check that on the test results?
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...dd07d4607.jpeg

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