Britain rows back on France quarantine, opens to more countries

LONDON - Britain said that fully-vaccinated travellers returning to England from France will no longer have to quarantine, scrapping an extra rule imposed on its closest neighbour last month, as it also opened up to seven more countries.

The government said the change to France's status from Aug. 8 at 0300 GMT would help simplify its travel rules, and would also allow quarantine-free travel from more places, in a boost for the beleaguered travel industry. Britain has one of the fastest vaccination programmes in the world but the government has so far stopped airlines and travel companies from making a full recovery with a maze of rules and last-minute changes which have scared off holidaymakers.