New, more stringent measures come into effect for four weeks starting Friday, March 19, 2021 at midnight.
On March 17, 2021, Emmanuel Macron told the mayors of the departments of Île-de-France, Alpes-Maritimes, Hauts-de-France, Seine-Maritime and Eure that he wanted a third way in the devices of the epidemic: "More teleworking for example during the week, less indoor brewing, but oxygenation on weekends."
Jean Castex's conference of March 18, 2021 confirms this trend. "The progression of the epidemic is accelerating markedly " said the Prime Minister, with + 23.6% new cases in one week, which looks like a third wave as we approach 100,000 dead. This is due to the more contagious, more virulent and potentially more serious British variant: with new arrivals in intensive care on average every 4 minutes from younger and healthier people.
The government has therefore chosen a territorialized strategy against the epidemic which circulates in a disparate fashion.
Stricter measures have been decided in the most affected departments of Île de France, Hauts-de-France, Alpes-Maritimes, Seine-Maritime and Eure. These new braking measures start from Friday March 19, 2021 at midnight for four weeks.
"Brake without locking up"
The third way is different from those of March and November. The Prime Minister wants "brake without locking up" so "pragmatic, proportionate and territorialized".
Schools will be left open as long as possible: from kindergarten to college. The high schools all pass in half gauge. Universities keep the same pace of work as they do today. The conditions for practicing sports activities for minors have been relaxed: EPS can resume outdoors, such as extra-curricular sports activities.
The rules are unchanged for places of worship. Booksellers and record stores remain open, unlike other so-called "non-essential" businesses.
Supervised trips
Travel outside the home is regulated according to more flexible rules than in March and November 2020. Indeed, we now know that contamination takes place less in the open air. It will therefore be possible to walk during the day without time limit, but with a certificate and within a radius of 10 kilometers around your home. Interregional travel will be prohibited for residents of the areas concerned, except for compelling or professional reasons. The curfew is maintained, but goes to 7 p.m. as of Saturday, March 20, 2021. "This should not be a pretext for gatherings in public spaces" specified the Prime Minister, indicating to have asked the prefects an increased vigilance on the gatherings.
Teleworking remains strongly encouraged, with a target of 4 working days per week.
These measures could be extended to other territories depending on the evolution of the indicators.