The Prime Minister’s announcement caused a stir among the French community in the United States, which was packing its suitcases and passports for a departure in August. According to the new decree of Monday, July 27, 2020, a PCR test (viral) carried out less than 72 hours before departure is required for travelers leaving from the United States to return to France, under penalty of being refused boarding. This measure takes effect on Saturday August 1st.

On the CDC website, it is specified that the tests sent to the laboratory are ” a process that can take a few days “. Many French people therefore find themselves a few days before their flight, with hospital addresses that do not promise to have results in 72 hours.

In Texas, one of the states most affected by the pandemic, Chantal is worried about her flight on Wednesday, August 5. She says she has ” contacted seven or eight clinics “, and that'” it should [qu’elle] go to Houston (over three hours away) for a quick test; even[son] doctor cannot guarantee a result in less than 72 hours “. While packing her suitcases to see her children and grandchildren again, the Frenchwoman is very worried. ” I wrote to the deputy M. Lescure and to the Prime Minister, to the embassy and to various consulates “, Because she considers that the decree is” discriminatory against residents of the United States “, But she has not received, for the moment,” no response and no support “.

For expatriates who were preparing to return to France definitively, this is misunderstanding. ” My husband, my son and I are leaving Monday August 3rd », Explains Clémence, who lives in Dallas. ” It’s five days to receive the results here », She says, in the process of organizing a move. Like many travelers, she contacted official institutions for more information: “ the Texas consul told us on Monday that he had traced the impossibility of testing to France, but since then we have not heard from him. “

Also in the South, in North Carolina, Alexia Loiacono, who resides in the vicinity of Raleigh, is due to take off on Sunday, August 9. ” I spent two days calling all the test centers in the area, even some within two or three hours around me, none are able to produce the results of the PCR test in less than five days », She confided. In areas where the epidemic has resumed, laboratories are overwhelmed. ” Several places even told me that they do not guarantee results within five days because of the high demand. », She assures.

In Miamisburg, Ohio, Marion Bagialtsalief explains being ” supposed to travel this Monday August 3, with a takeoff at 5.45pm from Chicago “. As soon as she heard of the decree, she ” planned to do two tests, a very early Friday morning for results on Saturday and one on Saturday morning in another center without being sure to have the results before Monday “. The clinic she contacted promises results under ” two working days maximum “.

From a diplomatic source, changes to the measure would be under study to allow in particular to be tested on arrival at the airport but no official confirmation was possible at the time of posting of this article. In the meantime, the consulates have mobilized to have an online page where different addresses are listed to be tested, including some centers guaranteeing results in 48 hours, in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Boston in particular. Stephanie Kamaruzzaman, Consular Advisor for the 6th District (Delaware, DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia), has posted two addresses to help travelers in the Washington DC area. ” If you are in difficulty because you are going to France on August 1 and cannot find a place of test with rapid result where to do it tomorrow July 29 in our consular district of Washington (or elsewhere in the United States if you see this post ), please keep me informed », She indicated.

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