In his last speech, Emmanuel Macron announced new restrictions to stem the coronavirus epidemic. The confinement established in 19 departments has therefore been extended to the entire territory, for a period of four weeks. This new measure will begin on Saturday April 3 from 7 p.m.
“Next week, classes for schools, colleges, high schools will be done at home (…) the following two weeks, the whole of France will be placed on spring break “, also indicated the President of the Republic on March 31. The Easter school holidays will be grouped together and will start from Monday 12 April. The return to physics will take place on April 26 for nursery and primary schools. Middle school and high school students will be able to return to their schools on May 3.
Containment, closure of schools: will these measures be effective in stemming the Covid-19 epidemic?
Guest on France Inter on April 1, Olivier Véran was asked about the effectiveness of these new restriction measures. According to the Minister of Health, “the measures which were announced last night by the President of the Republic will make it possible to have a strong impact on the epidemic dynamic “. According to him, “seven to ten days “ are necessary “to measure its effectiveness “. The application of a national re-containment and the closure of schools may therefore “stop this epidemic wave which is very strong “.
Before the establishment of national containment, the government had implemented various measures in the territories most heavily impacted by the epidemic. From mid-February, local confinements had been applied in the Alpes-Maritimes and Dunkirk. According to the North Prefecture, these restrictions had a positive effect on contamination from the beginning of March. “The first effects of the measures deployed since February 13, and in particular the confinement on weekends, are starting to be felt“, she had specified on March 9 to our colleagues of 20 minutes.
According to the Urban Community of Dunkirk, the incidence rate had fallen by 24.4% from March 13 to 9, 2021. Hospital tension was however still high in this territory despite the confinement applied during weekends.
Effective measures in some departments
Several French departments are particularly affected by the spread of the epidemic. Hospital services are saturated and new contaminations continue to rise. Will the measures decided by the government make it possible to reduce the circulation of the virus? “We can look at what happened with the reinforced measures that were taken on March 21 in part of France.. In Paris, Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) or in Val-de-Marne, we can see that there has been an inflection of the curves in the week following March 21, and even after a few days , we even saw this descent begin ” explained Damien Mascret doctor and journalist at Le Figaro on France 3.
The health professional, however, clarified that these restrictions did not have the same impact depending on the territories. “If we look at two other departments which have been placed under enhanced surveillance, Pas-de-Calais and Nord, we see that there has been no effect of these measures”, he added.
For Olivier Véran, the expansion of health measures and the closure of schools will make it possible to move towards “a more serene spring“and to find more freedom from the month of May.
Read also :
⋙ Covid-19 and school closures: here is the new school calendar
⋙ Covid-19 and confinement: dentists warn about this surprising consequence of stress on our teeth
⋙ Long Covid: vaccinating would reduce symptoms