The state of emergency and the curfew linked to the Covid-19 epidemic were lifted on Tuesday, November 16 in French Polynesia, and the mask is no longer imposed outside, announced Monday in Papeete (Tuesday at Paris) the President of French Polynesia, Edouard Fritch, and the High Commissioner of the Republic, Dominique Sorain.
The virus has killed 636 people in Polynesia, peaking sharply in August and September. But the five Polynesian archipelagos no longer deplore any deaths linked to Covid-19 since October 26, and only four patients are hospitalized in intensive care at the hospital.
At the height of the epidemic, all hospital structures were saturated. The Taaone hospital center had to open beds in places of passage. An airliner had even been chartered to evacuate patients to France, 17,000 kilometers away.
The health pass, an “alternative” to confinement
The Polynesian President, Edouard Fritch, ruled out any return to confinement and defended with the High Commissioner of the Republic the establishment of the health pass, which they presented as a “Alternative to confinement”.
From 12 years old, this pass will be required to travel to the Polynesian islands, but also to go to bars and nightclubs and to attend cultural and festive shows or events. It will not apply in restaurants.
Mr. Fritch also defended his vaccine obligation law, which is to apply from December 23. This law will force all persons exercising a profession in contact with the public to be vaccinated. Despite a general strike announced by local unions for the end of November, in opposition to the law, the president said he will maintain it “For the good of the population”. The Polynesian president has finally announced that the health teams of the community will ” go door to door “ to convince the 44% of Polynesians who are not yet vaccinated to be vaccinated.