As every week, the Prime Minister takes stock of the health situation in France. This Thursday, January 14, 2021, Jean Castex and his ministers thus exposed the new measures to contain the epidemic and face the threat of the British variant.
Curfew at 6 p.m. for the whole of France
The 8 p.m. curfew passes to 6 p.m. throughout the national territory from this Saturday, January 16, 2021, for a period of fifteen days. A new restriction put in place “in a logic of preventive braking, to reduce social contact” as explained by the Prime Minister, Jean Castex. All places open to the public, including shops, must therefore close at this time. The exemptions remain the same.
Regarding a possible re-containment, the Prime Minister said: “ The health situation does not require the establishment of a new containment “. But if the situation worsens, the government says it is ready to resort to it “without delay”.
Strengthening border controls
In view of the arrival of the British variant on French soil, the government has decided to strengthen border controls. ” As of Monday, all travelers who wish to come to France will have to take a test before leaving. People will have to pledge on their honor to isolate themselves for seven days and to do a PCR test at the end of this period. », Indicated Jean Castex. Additional restrictions will be put in place in Guyana, Mayotte and Réunion. The prefect will have to take restrictive measures in the days to come.
Reinforcement of the protocol in schools
Regarding the situation in schools, the Minister of National Education and Youth, Jean-Michel Blanquer said he wanted to prioritize the strengthening of closure protocols: ” We want to do everything to avoid the closure of schools “. This is why school and extracurricular sports activities will be prohibited in a closed environment, as will indoor PE lessons. In schools, the Minister of National Education announced a strengthening of the protocol in the canteens by proposing the staggering of service times to avoid the mixing of students.
The hybrid operation could continue to be used in high schools and could be implemented in secondary schools for 4th and 3rd year students. Likewise, the resumption of face-to-face classes in universities is postponed despite the psychological situation of the students. In general, individual or collective screening will be deployed and antigenic tests should be made available on campuses.
Vaccination is expanding and accelerating
From this Monday, January 18, 2021, those over 75 will be able to be vaccinated. According to Jean Castex “ By the end of January, we will be above one million people vaccinated, which was our original target. “. However, the government wants to speed up the pace by now opening vaccination to people with one of the pathologies to ” high risk of developing a severe form of the disease As people with cancer, Down’s syndrome or kidney failure for example. Finally, the opening of more than 700 vaccination centers is scheduled from Monday, January 18, throughout France.
