France has imposed entry restrictions for Argentina, Brazil, Chile and South Africa due to concerns about new variants of the coronavirus.

A 10-day compulsory quarantine will apply to people entering France from these countries. It will go into effect on Saturday, April 24. The measure will also apply to air travelers from its overseas territory of French Guiana.

France intends to create a system by then that allows for the verification of location and the corresponding quarantine requirements. Furthermore, there must be proof of a negative coronavirus test not older than 36 hours.

France has also extended the suspension of all flights to Brazil, imposed early last week. It is set to last through Friday.

The measure was ordered because of the Brazilian variant known as P1, which is said to be particularly virulent and is blamed for a sharp rise in coronavirus deaths in Brazil in March.

France has been particularly hard-hit by the pandemic. In the country of around 67 million, more than 100,000 people have died as a result of COVID-19, with the country's president, Emmanuel Macron, blamed for arrogance amid the virus crisis.