(Paris) The French government announced Thursday evening the lifting, in February, of most of the restrictions taken to curb the epidemic: end of wearing a mask outdoors and compulsory telework, reopening of nightclubs and return of standing concerts.
Posted at 2:47 p.m.
“We will be able in February to lift most of the restrictions taken to curb the epidemic thanks to the new vaccine passport which will come into force next Monday”, announced the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, during a press conference in Matignon.
Recommended, but no longer required
From February 2, wearing a mask will no longer be compulsory outdoors, the gauges in places open to the public abandoned and teleworking “will no longer be compulsory”, but recommended, detailed the head of government.
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Nightclubs will reopen on February 16. Concert hall operators will also be able to start admitting standing audiences again on the same date.
On February 16, the nightclubs, closed since December 10, will be able to reopen and standing concerts will again be authorized. Consumption at the counter will also be possible in bars. Just like consumption in stadiums, cinemas and transport.
The United Kingdom, hit by the Omicron wave two weeks before France, has just announced the lifting of most of its restrictions, even promising the end of isolation for those infected.
The government also announced that the vaccine passport, replacing the health passport for people at least 16 years old, will come into force from Monday “subject to the decision of the Constitutional Council” on Friday.
This passport will be used to access leisure activities, restaurants and drinking establishments, fairs, seminars and trade shows and interregional public transport.
On the school side, Jean Castex “considers” a reduction in the health protocol for schools upon return from the February holidays, i.e. not before March 7, the date when all the children (from the three zones) will have returned from vacation.
Teenagers between 12 and 17 years old will also be able to have a reminder of their vaccination, “without obligation”, from Monday.
“A contrasting period”
The government is facing a paradoxical situation: if the number of positive cases continues to increase – and to break records at more than 300,000 daily contaminations on the average of the last seven days – the pressure on the resuscitation services tends to decrease. .
Intensive care, which houses the most serious cases, received a total of 3,842 COVID-19 patients on Thursday. This figure has been declining for several days even if, more generally, hospitalizations continue to increase.
This situation is explained by the characteristics of the Omicron variant, which is certainly much more contagious than its predecessors, but also gives less severe forms of the disease. This translates into shorter hospital stays and less frequent intensive care admissions.
The population also continues to test themselves massively, even if the numbers are decreasing a little. More than 11 million COVID-19 screening tests were carried out last week, slightly less than the record recorded after the start of the school year in January and down for the first time since All Saints’ Day.
“We are going to enter a contrasting period”, summarized Thursday, in an opinion published before the announcements of the government, the Scientific Council, which advises the executive in the management of the crisis.
Claiming to be the bearer of a “double message of hope and caution”, he believes that hospitals should be able to withstand the wave, but only on condition that the French remain vigilant in terms of barrier gestures.
The Scientific Council repeats that it is in favor of the vaccine passport, judging it “justified” to encourage vaccination of French people at risk who have not yet taken the plunge.