A Health Defense Council will be followed by a Council of Ministers on Monday, December 27. The exceptional spread of the Omicron variant should lead to the taking of new health measures by the government in an attempt to limit contamination
While the latest figures given by Public Health France reported on Saturday more than 104,000 contaminations in 24 hours, an absolute record, the government will reflect on Monday, during a Health Defense Council, on the introduction of new measures to reduce contamination. On the menu, in particular, the transformation of the health pass into a vaccination pass, initially planned for mid-January.
On Friday, the executive indicated that Emmanuel Macron would participate in the Health Defense Council set at 4 p.m., before the Council of Ministers. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said Wednesday that a “reassessment of the health situation” was planned.
A curfew on December 31?
First track mentioned in several media, the establishment of a curfew on the evening of the new year. An adviser to the executive considered that “the question arose”, according to information from TF1 / LCI. Sunday on France 2, the epidemiologist confided that “it would be a reasonable solution”.
According to Franceinfo, however, this track would not be considered immediately. “We are going to take less strong but more lasting measures”, indicates a minister to our colleagues.
Postponement of the start of the school year?
What about the start of the school year scheduled for January 3? In an open letter to the Minister of Health published on Sunday in the JDD, 50 health personnel are worried “about the current level of viral circulation of the coronavirus among children and adolescents of school age” and ask for the postponement of this return ” .
“Since the beginning of November, more than 300,000 children and adolescents have been confirmed positive for Covid-19. Hospitalizations of children in conventional and intensive care units have exceeded the peaks of all previous waves, with more than 800 children under 10 and 300 adolescents aged 10 to 19 hospitalized in six weeks, and these figures do not stop increasing, ”they argue. Several countries had decided to bring forward the Christmas holidays in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus.
On December 19, the Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer told BFMTV: “We never close any eventuality […] but this is obviously not the preferred hypothesis, we would only do it as a last resort ”.
Reinforcement of teleworking?
The government could look into the issue of teleworking. The Minister of Labor Élisabeth Borne thus asked companies on Wednesday “to accelerate” and to “prepare now to set up a minimum of three days of teleworking per week for positions which allow it or even four when possible”.
Closures of cultural places?
What about the culture sector? Since Sunday, cinemas and theaters have been closed in Belgium, could France follow the same path? “All the signals are red, but we hope to be able to avoid a new closure, explained Thursday to Liberation, Jean-Marc Dumontet, owner of several Parisian theaters.
Wearing a mask outside compulsory?
The obligation to wear a mask outside should once again be on the agenda, in particular in the center of large cities and in the event of a gathering, finally indicates a minister to Franceinfo.
The executive thus plans to abolish the isolation period for contact cases of a person positive for the Omicron variant, provided they have a complete vaccination schedule.