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France issues first travel passes for unmarried couples separated by Covid-19

After weeks of delay, unmarried long-distance couples have begun reuniting in France.

Published: 5 October 2020 15:50 CEST
France issues first travel passes for unmarried couples separated by Covid-19
Illustration photo: AFP

American Robert, 36, and French Élodie, 29, last week became the first long-distance couple to reunite in France after eight months of being separated by Covid-19 travel restrictions.

“I'm happy, it's been so long, we needed to be together,” Robert told French media when he arrived at the Charles-de-Gaulle airport north of Paris.

France, along with the rest of the EU, effectively closed its borders in early March to all but essential travel in a bid to stem the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

To this date, even after the EU somewhat slackened travel restrictions for those coming in from its external borders, travellers from a long list of countries – such as the US, India and Brazil – are still barred.

France allowed French residents to return along with travel for “imperative family reasons”, but these did not cover unmarried couples in long-distance relationships who simply wanted to reunite.

READ ALSO Who can travel to France from the USA?

France only recognises couples as such if they live together, are married or PACSed (a civil partnership or pacte civil de solidarité). 

Unmarried couples have long complained that they are treated as second-class couples due to their lack of official documents “proving” their relationship's validity.

The group #LoveIsNotTourism campaigned for months to push France to make good on their promise to let unmarried couples reunite in France, after France's Secretary of State in charge of tourism, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, tweeted in early August: “This virus does not like love, we do!”

READ ALSO: France's failure to act leaves long-distance lovers 'heartbroken'

Lemoyne promised the government was setting up a process that would allow partners separated due to Covid-19 to reunite. 

Initially, the line went that all long-distance couples where one person lives in France and the other person in a non-EU country would be eligible to apply for the laissez-passer (travel pass), the government said.

But according to the procedure set up on September 21st 2020, only couples of one French national are eligible to apply for the free pass. No mechanism has been set up for non-French couples where one person resides in France.

According to the rules on the French consulate in Boston, couples applying for the pass must prove:

  • That their relationship began at least six months before the borders closed, so no later than September 2019.
  • That they have previously been to France and that the main reason for their visit was that they were visiting their partner (which excludes professional reasons or other long-term projects).

They also 

Love Is Not Tourism – which also had been lobbying French political representatives for weeks – took to the streets of Paris to protest the delay in issuing the travel passes.

 

Now, the ball seems to be rolling and Robert and Élodie just the first of several couples that will be able to reunite in France.

The French consulate in Buenos Aires tweeted on September 30th that they had received their for two travel passes for binational couples aiming to reunite in France.

 

Member of the French Senate Joëlle Garriaud-Mayland responded to a Twitter user who confirmed having received the first travel pass issued in the Maghreb, saying: “So happy for you two! You see now that you didn't have to despair.. All the rest of the couples in the same situation should be able to reunite soon,” she wrote.

 

 

The tourism secretary previously confirmed to The Local that there would be no differentiation between heterosexual couples and LGTBIQ couples in the process to issue travel passes. 

 

 

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HEALTH

How serious is the threat from dengue fever in France?

As tiger mosquitoes are now present in over 80 percent of mainland France, health authorities are worried that local transmission of tropical diseases, like dengue fever, will increase.

Published: 14 June 2024 15:15 CEST
How serious is the threat from dengue fever in France?

As of January 2024, tiger mosquitoes – known for their ability to carry diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus – had been detected in 78 of France’s 96 mainland départements, including the Paris region.

This has left public health authorities concerned about the spread of dengue fever in France, particularly this summer as large crowds are expected amid the Olympic Games.

READ MORE: MAP: Tiger mosquitoes reach northern France

How common is dengue fever in France?

In the first four months of 2024, 1,679 cases of dengue fever were identified in mainland France, a number that is 13 times higher than the same period last year, Le Parisien reported.

Crucially, however, none of these are believed to have been contracted in mainland France – they were all reported among patients who had recently travelled from the tropical regions where dengue fever is common.

The majority of cases were from people who had visited the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe – where the disease is endemic.

These islands are for administrative purposes part of France – so often show up in French health data – but they are roughly 7,000km away from Paris.

So far, there have not been any indigenous cases (autochtone – or people infected on mainland French soil) yet this year.

Local transmission of the disease remains relatively rare. In 2023, nine separate outbreaks of indigenous dengue transmission were identified, one of which occurred in the Paris region. These led to 45 cases of local transmission (in mainland France).

Most were in southern France – in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Occitanie and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions – though one outbreak occurred in the Paris region, according to French public health authorities.

This is less than 2022, which was a notable year with 66 total cases of indigenous dengue fever were recorded. In comparison, between 2010 and 2021, only 48 cases (total) were recorded.

What to expect for 2024

Experts believe that the number of cases in France, including indigenous ones, will grow this year, as tiger mosquitoes now occupy more territory in mainland France.

On top of that, the number of cases has increased significantly in Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“What we see in France is a mirror image of what is happening in the French Caribbean, and more widely in Latin America and the rest of the Caribbean, where dengue fever has been circulating since the start of the year at unprecedented levels”, the head of Santé Publique France, Dr Caroline Semaille, said during a press conference.

The Olympic Games will also bring an influx of tourists from all over the world, and weather conditions are expected to be conducive to mosquitoes – a year with a lot of rainfall, and potentially high temperatures. 

What is dengue fever?

The disease is spread to people from bites by infected mosquitoes.

The most common symptoms are high fever, chills, abdominal, joint and muscle pains, and vomiting. It can also cause a skin rash that resembles measles, according to France’s Institut Pasteur.

Symptoms usually begin three to 14 days (with an average of four to seven) after being bitten.

However people are asymptomatic in 50 to 90 percent of cases (depending on the epidemic), which can make monitoring difficult.

At-risk groups include the immunocompromised, children and the elderly, who are more likely to suffer from severe forms of the disease.

Deaths from the disease are very rare, occurring in around 0.01 percent of all cases, almost all in countries that have poor healthcare systems.

How can I avoid tiger mosquitoes?

Female tiger mosquitoes lay their eggs in water, and they can lay several hundred eggs at once. Therefore try to avoid having any standing water outside your home and be aware of the items that might collect rainwater.

This includes regularly emptying vases, flower pots, as well as watering cans and pots. If you want to collect rainwater, you could cover water butts with mosquito nets or fabric to keep the mosquitoes from getting inside.

READ ALSO 5 plants that (allegedly) repel mosquitoes

You can also keep your gutters clean – this helps to keep the water flowing when it rains, and it avoids any stagnant pools from building up.

To protect yourself, try to wear long, loose and light-coloured clothing, in addition to insect repellent. You might also consider wearing a mosquito net head gear.

The main difference between tiger mosquitoes and other species would be getting a bite during the day, and the fact that tiger mosquitoes are likely to bite several times. You can tell for sure if it was a tiger mosquito by seeing the insect itself. They are also silent.

There is no immediate cause for alarm if you are bitten, in almost all cases the bites are just itchy and annoying. In very rare cases, tropical diseases can be spread by the mosquitoes – seek medical help if you develop a high fever and rash.

READ MORE: How to prevent the spread of tiger mosquitoes in France

What do tiger mosquitoes look like?

They are very small, about 5 mm, and they have a highly contrasting colour, with black and white stripes on their body and legs.

If you believe you have spotted a tiger mosquito, you can report it to public health authorities online.

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