The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, envisaged this Wednesday the end of the wearing of the mask indoors for adults and children “in mid-March”, as well as a reduction in the vaccination pass on this date, if traffic of Covid-19 is “very low”. “In mid-March, if the hospitals are in normal operating condition, and if the circulation of the virus is very low, we will be able to remove the masks for adults and for children, for all or part of the closed places, including without a pass,” said Olivier Véran, questioned on Franceinfo.
“We can start to greatly lighten the vaccine pass device, perhaps not all in one block, perhaps we will keep measures for the end of March at the beginning of April”, he continued. The minister considered the prospect of “keeping (the mask) in places which are very at risk, such as nightclubs, and there it would be until the end of March, the beginning of April”.
Towards a total exit from the wave within a few weeks?
The Covid-19 “is not behind us but it is clearly improving everywhere (…), so this is reassuring news”, welcomed the minister, recalling however that “there is still a lot patients in hospital, in intensive care and still far too many deaths on a daily basis”. According to official figures released Tuesday evening, the number of people hospitalized stands at 31,091, critical care services have 3,235 patients, and 304 people died in hospital with a Covid diagnosis in 24 hours.
“The circulation dynamic of the virus is weakening very strongly and if we continue on this dynamic, we will be able to completely get out of the wave within a few weeks”, affirmed Olivier Véran. According to him, “the strategy of progressive reductions proportionate to the viral load was the right one”. Asked about the low vaccination of children in France (4.4% of 5-11 year olds had received at least one injection on February 8), the minister assured that it was “no failure”.
“I take up my pilgrim’s staff (…) to tell parents over and over again that vaccinating your child means not taking the risk that he is one of those hundreds of children who are hospitalized for a serious form of Covid”, said Olivier Véran. “We reach up to 500 children hospitalized over a week”, he detailed. The minister also regretted that “30% of pregnant women” are not vaccinated. “If a pregnant woman is not vaccinated, the risk of premature delivery is multiplied by 20,” he said.