The fireworks display on the Champs-Elysées, December 31, 2020 (AFP / Martin BUREAU)
Christmas should be quiet, but beware of the New Year, warns the Scientific Council, which calls on the government to strictly limit gatherings in the face of Covid-19, like Paris which cancels its emblematic fireworks display on the Champs-Elysées .
In a notice published on Saturday, the Council considers that “significant restrictive measures must be able to be taken by the authorities on the occasion of New Year’s Eve (including where appropriate in the form of limitation of collective activities or curfews) , with the possibility of a territorial variation “.
The evening of December 31, where partygoers are traditionally more exuberant, worries the body responsible for giving recommendations to the executive with regard to knowledge about the epidemic.
While “our fellow citizens will be keen to spend this Christmas party 2021 in a more limited number”, according to these experts, “for the New Year’s festivities, the Scientific Council warns of the behavior of citizens which could be different with a more or less controlled festive activity “.
He “would like an approach to avoid that on New Year’s Day, a series of mini-clusters is set up at Omicron, which could rapidly disseminate in the days that follow throughout the country, given the population movements during this period “.
The Prime Minister, Jean Castex, had already underlined this risk by recommending Friday to the town halls to give up the concerts and fireworks of New Year’s Eve. He announced that the consumption of alcohol on public roads would be banned throughout France that evening.
Saturday morning, the town hall of Paris canceled the fireworks and concerts planned on the avenue des Champs-Élysées on New Year’s Eve.
– “A huge risk” –
Contamination with the virus has sharply increased in France since mid-November, to exceed the threshold of 50,000 new cases per day.
The Delta variant remains very largely dominant there. However, the example of other European countries, led by the United Kingdom, shows that the Omicron variant, which is much more contagious, can very quickly worsen an already difficult situation.
Covid-19 cases and daily deaths linked to Covid-19 officially recorded in France as of December 18 (AFP /)
“If it is 10% of cases of Omicron variant today in our country, that means that next week it is 25 or 30%, and that means that in two weeks it is in the majority”, warned the Minister of Health Olivier Véran on Saturday on France Inter.
At Christmas, “we don’t use a gauge because people have understood it very well. The gauge is: everyone vaccinated at the table. (…) Be aware that if you have a grandmother who does not ‘is not vaccinated, at the table, and you are twenty, you take a risk, I say it, a huge risk, “said the minister. He said, however, that the self-tests would not be made free as many expected.
December 31, described Mr. Véran, “these are moments of very strong mixing of populations who do not know each other”.
The Scientific Council therefore urges, for this New Year 2022, the “individual responsibility” of the French.
A woman is vaccinated against the Covid, March 13, 2021 in Nice (AFP / Valery HACHE)
This involves “limiting the size of festive events”, “getting tested widely on December 31”, “not increasing the number of places to go out for the same person who, if infected, would be the cause of several clusters “and” to avoid seeing people aged over 65 during the first week of January “if you passed a lot of people on New Year’s Eve.
A bill is planned for the beginning of January to transform the health pass into a vaccination pass, which will limit access to cultural places or restaurants to fully vaccinated people.
The third dose of vaccine will be made compulsory for caregivers and firefighters from the end of January, Mr. Véran announced.
And vaccination for 5-11 year olds can start from Wednesday “if all goes well”, once the latest scientific advice has been given, he said. “Vaccination of children has its effectiveness,” said Mr. Castex while visiting a vaccination center in Le Mans.
Marine Le Pen, of the National Rally, deplored that the government is going “always in the direction of greater confinement of the French”. The other far-right presidential candidate, Eric Zemmour, denounced “the hardening” of the past.
Former minister Christine Taubira, who is considering a candidacy on the left, said the government was “in its role” when it “chooses to transform the health pass into a vaccine pass”.
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