Olivier Véran’s entourage told AFP this Thursday, January 13 at midday that the Minister of Health had tested positive for Covid a few hours earlier.
The health situation is critical. For several weeks, the Omicron variant has been sweeping over France with more than 300,000 cases recorded every day. At the hospital, the situation is also deteriorating with nearly 4,000 patients in intensive care, but the first data from scientists suggest that the Omicron variant is certainly more contagious than the Delta variant but would reduce the risk of hospitalization by around 70 %. To face the epidemic, the government is on the bridge to adopt the vaccine pass, currently debated in the Senate, aimed at encouraging the French as much as possible to go for a first injection. No one is spared.
Minister of Health positive
This Thursday, January 13, the Minister of Health and Solidarity Olivier Véran has just been tested positive for Covid-19, said his entourage to AFP. The minister was declared a contact case at midday yesterday. His first test was negative and following the health protocol, the minister did not isolate himself. This morning, he had mild symptoms, prompting him to take another antigen test which came back positive. He will therefore respect a 5-day isolation. Monday, Olivier Véran will take a new test to find out if he will be able to come out of his period of isolation. Once again, this proves that the Omicron variant is extremely contagious and the authorities are wondering when the peak of contaminations will be reached. According to studies by the Pasteur Institute, the peak could reach in the middle of next week.
Strong tensions with Jean-Michel Blanquer
Was Olivier Véran already infected with the virus at the time of his clash with Jean-Michel Blanquer, on the sidelines of the Council of Ministers yesterday morning? According to The Parisian, the Minister of Education would have been outraged by the feeling of “having to carry everything on your shoulders when the health situation is complex“. He would therefore have gone to see Olivier Véran in order to express his dissatisfaction. After an explanation “frank” and “direct” according to a member of the government, the Minister of Health would have declared, in essence, to his colleague: “We will have to stay well united, it will rock. Listen, Jean-Michel, you have to calm down, we have to unite. We have to hold out in the media storm, but we have to calm down.
I have just tested positive for Covid.
As a result, I put myself in solitary confinement and continued to perform my duties from a distance.– Olivier Véran (@olivierveran) January 13, 2022