PARIS, January 7. / TASS /. France's border with Great Britain will remain closed until further orders from the French administration due to the danger of the spread of the British strain of the coronavirus, said French Prime Minister Jean Castex at a press conference on Thursday.

"The border with the UK will not be open until new orders," he said. "For now, we are maintaining status quo, but new measures can be taken and not in the direction of softening the restrictions,"Castex said. He stressed that France has so far managed to maintain the rate of spread of coronavirus at a level lower than in neighboring countries. He highlighted the unfavorable epidemic situation in the UK due to the spread of the new strain.

According to Health Minister Olivier Veran, France is "seriously" assessing the threat of the spread of British and South African strains. He recalled that at least 19 cases of infection with the British version of the coronavirus have already been identified in the country. The risk of infection with this mutation of the coronavirus is 40-70% higher than in the case of the regular strain.

France closed passenger traffic with the UK in December due to the discovery of a new strain of coronavirus there. Previously, the opening of the France-UK border was supposed to be on January 6, 2021.