To deal with the fifth epidemic wave and the Omicron variant, Gabriel Attal warns that the government will not hesitate to “go beyond” the health measures in force.
“We have already announced measures on December 31 (…) but if we find that there is a very strong resumption of the epidemic linked to the Omicron variant, we could obviously go beyond”, indicated the government spokesperson, on France 2.
For the night of New Year’s Eve, the measures provide for the cancellation of concerts, fireworks and festive gatherings in the municipalities. Groupings and the consumption of alcohol on public roads will also be prohibited on this day.
The contagious force of the Omicron variant is at the heart of the concerns. Gabriel Attal underlines that the latter “is much more contagious than anything that we have known: it develops 70% more quickly than the previous variants and, every two to three days, the number of cases doubles”.
Containment measures are not excluded
Faced with this tense epidemic situation, the specter of confinement looms large and is not ruled out. Gabriel Attal recalled that the government does not exclude “in principle” any measure to fight against Covid-19.
But the executive’s strategy remains mainly vaccination and particularly the booster dose. Gabriel Attal was moreover pleased that “the bar of 20 million” of administered booster doses was reached on Tuesday, “with four days ahead of the objective which had been set by Olivier Véran”, the Minister of health.
The Vaccine Pass, a new step in the government strategy
Gabriel Attal also announced during a press briefing on the health situation, that the Omicron variant was gaining ground and that it represented, in particular in Paris, one in three contamination. Faced with this, the government decided to open 2 million vaccination slots. “The virus is accelerating, we are also accelerating,” the government spokesman said.
Vaccination is not everything, “speeding up is also setting up the vaccination pass without delay”. The draft law on the vaccine pass was to be approved on January 5, 2022 to enter into force at the end of the month, but “we have decided to bring this calendar forward. An extraordinary Council of Ministers will be held on Monday, December 27 ”. The text can be adopted from the first half of January.
Finally, he assured that the proposal of Valérie Pécresse, presidential candidate for LR, to extend the school holidays by one week is not “at all a preferred hypothesis” by the government. Postponing the presidential election to April is also not being considered.