And now, what to do? End of gauges, wearing a mask outdoors, compulsory telework … France begins Wednesday to lift the restrictions linked to Covid-19 despite a still very high number of contaminations. On January 20, the government cleared the horizon of the French, blocked by nearly two years of pandemic, by detailing a schedule for alleviating the constraints weighing on daily life.
One key place remains: school. The question of a reduction in the school health protocol will thus be raised. this Wednesday, February 2 during a health defense council, learned franceinfo from the entourage of Emmanuel Macron, indicating that there are “a few points to be decided”.
Lightening the protocol, according to the government, means returning in priority to two current obligations: the wearing of a mask compulsory from CP and the famous three self-tests to be done for students with contact cases.
For this, two options are on the table. Either a reduction from February 21, as the school holidays begin, depending on the zones, A, B, or C; that is relief from March 7, once all the zones have returned, for all of France at the same time.
The first possibility, zone by zone, is for the moment rather privileged: it is “more logical”, blows the entourage of the Elysée. Whatever happens, we will have to decide quickly: the first regions are on vacation from the weekend of February 5th.
In an interview with our colleagues from La Voix du Nord, Emmanuel Macron says he wants “visibility when returning from vacation” “If the figures are confirmed, I hope that we can give visibility to the return of school holidays for each zone on the reduction of the school protocol”. Before sliding: “I think a lot about our children, their families and teachers. On asked a lot of them”.
The Head of State also recognizes that the controversy surrounding Jean-Michel Blanquer and “the reproaches on the late sending of the school protocols were justified“.”It is now necessary to anticipate them before the returns of the first zone” he concludes.
The teachers’ unions will be consulted, from Thursday, February 3, but several voices are already rising to denounce much too hasty relief, even though the virus is circulating intensely. “A full class several days in a row, it hasn’t happened for a long time“, testify to many teachers. The official number of contaminations in schools is still breaking records, week after week.
“We will respect the schedule that we presented to the French, with a lifting of the restrictions in two stages, that is to say tomorrow [mercredi 2 février] and then on the 16th“February, also confirmed the government spokesperson, Gabriel Attal, Tuesday, February 1 on franceinfo. Despite this, “you have to be very careful” because “trend reversal“contamination”is still weak“, “that we remain at very high levels“of Covid-19 circulation and that”we know that there are questions asked about the BA.2 subvariant, which is also very contagious“, he pointed out.