French health authorities are racing to contain scattered cases of the more contagious Delta virus variant, as France prepares to reopen its borders to vaccinated visitors and celebrates plunging Covid-19 infection and hospitalisation rates.

Health Minister Olivier Veran said that France has multiple clusters of the variant, first identified in India and believed to be fuelling a rise in infections in neighbouring Britain, notably in the southwest Landes region.

Speaking on BFM television, Veran said the variant hadn’t spread widely into the community and that health investigators were working to track cases. Overall, he insisted, “the epidemic situation continues to strongly improve around the country,” but said the government wasn’t preparing to lift mask requirements anytime soon.

Read more at AP here.