France will impose a 10-day quarantine for travellers arriving from India in the coming days to prevent the spread of a worrying Covid-19 variant that is hammering Indian hospitals, government spokesman Gabriel Attal has said.

The move comes a few days after Paris announced a ban on all flights from Brazil to stave off the P1 coronavirus variant, and required quarantines for passengers on flights from Argentina, Chile and South Africa.

“For certain countries where the health situation is very serious and worrisome in particular, we will again tighten the screws,” Attal said after a cabinet meeting on the pandemic response. “India will be added to this list.”