France suspends all Brazil flights due to virus variants

PARIS (AP) — France has suspended all flights between Brazil and France amid concerns over coronavirus variants. Prime Minister Jean Castex made the announcement Tuesday in parliament. He said: “We note that the situation is getting worse and so we have decided to suspend all flights between Brazil and France until further notice.” France has had 5.1 million coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, the highest number in Europe, and has seen over 99,000 COVID-19 patients die. It is struggling with another surge of infections that threaten to overwhelm its hospitals. The transport minister says as few as 50 people per day are flying into Paris’ main airport from Brazil now, down from 50,000 per week before the pandemic.