The French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, said today that Europe is already negotiating an extremely strong protocol to be able to resume suspended flights with Southern Africa due to the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, recently detected in South Africa.

During an interview with the RTL television radio channel, Clément Beaune said that France will extend until Saturday the suspension of flights with seven southern African countries for the preparation of this protocol under discussion.

"The extension of this suspension of flights will allow time to negotiate the coordinated control measures that will be applied when air contacts are restored," said French Secretary of State.

As part of this protocol, Beaune indicated that obligations will be established to perform tests before boarding and after the plane lands at its destination, as well as isolation periods.