Coronavirus indicator curves show a rising epidemic. New measures will take effect from Saturday, January 16, including a general curfew.
The warning messages from the health authorities had been piling up for a few days: more stringent measures were going to be needed. The situation in France is deteriorating, and a glance at the English neighbor raises fears of the worst. The British variant of Covid-19 is indeed spreading rapidly, with a higher contagiousness of 50 to 74%. "There will probably be a number of more stringent measures to be taken", declared Wednesday January 13 at 8 p.m. of TF1 the president of the Scientific Council, Jean-François Delfraissy. Analyzes of wastewater have also made it possible to detect an increase in the presence of the virus in Île-de-France and Marseille.
A press conference was held this Thursday, January 14, 2021, to report on the decisions taken by the health defense council. The Prime Minister was surrounded by 6 colleagues: Olivier Véran (Health), Jean-Michel Blanquer (National Education), Bruno Le Maire (Economy and Finance), Élisabeth Borne (Labor), Roselyne Bachelot (Culture) and Frédérique Vidal (Higher education) ). Here's what to remember.
A general curfew from January 16
"Our situation remains worrying, even if it has generally stabilized in recent days. We remain on a plateau around 16,000 contaminations per day. The pressure on hospitals is stable but is at a high level", announced Jean Castex.
It is an advanced curfew at 6 p.m. for all of France which has been decreed by the Prime Minister. This measure was already in force in 25 French departments, and gradually spread as local contagion rates increased. The idea of this general curfew is to standardize the territory.
The curfew is, however, a tool whose effectiveness is not easy to measure. According to analyst Guillaume Rozier, who works on daily covid figures, it may indeed have only a moderate effect.
In addition to this curfew, which will be triggered from Saturday, January 16, more drastic measures to limit contact are put in place. Border controls will in particular be reinforced with mandatory PCR tests, in order to avoid at all costs the entry into the territory of the different variants (English, South African even more virulent …). Of "specific measures" will be taken for the overseas territories.
On the other hand, schools will remain open with a "enhanced vigilance".
The vaccination plan will continue in order to be able to immunize those most at risk as quickly as possible and to hope for a more normal life from spring 2021.