The latest on Covid in France - Prime Minister's speech 14th January 2021

The French Prime Minister once again did a speech last night (Thursday 14th January 2021), in order to provide an update on the covid health crisis, as well as to confirm the new measures that will be put into place.

6 PM CURFEW THROUGHOUT ALL OF FRANCE

The government has ruled in favour of a curfew at 6 pm extended to the whole of the metropolitan territory from Saturday, instead of 8 pm, and this for "at least 15 days". "Except for the exceptions linked to public service missions, all places, businesses or services open to the public will be closed at 6 pm," said the head of government.

To justify the general progress of the curfew, Jean Castex explained that "it appears that this measure has health efficiency: in the first 15 departments where it was implemented from January 2, the increase in the number cases were two to three times lower than in other metropolitan departments ".

NO CONFINEMENT… FOR THE TIME BEING

“The situation does not require to set up a new confinement, which would be a very heavy decision”, he explained, comparing the situation at the end of October, with" 50,000 contaminations per day ", to the current one," around 16,000 daily contaminations ". But" we must prepare for any eventuality ", warned the chief executive:" If we notice, in the coming days, a strong epidemic deterioration, we would be led to decide without delay new confinement. "

THE SPREADING OF THE VIRUS

The good news of the evening, came when Jean Castex let it be known that the dreaded end-of-year celebrations had finally not led to an "epidemic outbreak". According to the Prime Minister, the health situation, in the current state of things, is "under control compared to what we see in our neighbours, but remains fragile".

COVID VARIANTS

The various Covid mutations are being closely monitored. If it is "potentially more contagious in children" according to Olivier Véran, the English variant will not cause schools to close. As for the South African variant, "there are only a few cases at this stage," the Minister of Health said. While it is sometimes described as more dangerous, "we have no reason to believe that it causes more severe forms at this stage," said Mr. Véran.

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS

From Monday, January 18th, the conditions for entry into France will be greatly reinforced. A strengthening of border controls is planned, under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior. All travellers who come from a country outside the European Union wishing to go to France will have to do a COVID test on site and undertake on their honour to respect a 7-day isolation "once they arrive in France, then to redo a second COVID test at the end of "this quarantine," explained Jean Castex.

SCHOOLS

In schools, the health protocol will be reinforced, especially in canteens, as was expected. "There will be no mixing possible in the canteen between classes," said Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer. Indoor physical and sports activities will be prohibited. From February, screenings will be deployed in schools to test one million students per month. The alternation of face-to-face and distance education for high school students will be extended beyond January 20 and will be accepted on a case-by-case basis for college students. Regarding higher education, and only for first year students, face-to-face will be possible from January 25 but only in half-groups.

VACCINATION

Vaccination will be extended from January 18 to people who may develop a serious form of the disease, regardless of their age (800,000 people). It will also be open, as planned, to anyone over the age of 75. To do this, 700 vaccination centres will be open in France from Monday. Olivier Véran invites you to make an appointment on www.sante.fr or by phone on 0800 009 110, number open this Friday. The Minister of Health, as well as Jean Castex, called on the French to be patient. France will have enough doses to vaccinate 2.5 million people by the end of February, but vaccination will be only able to protect us sufficiently after several months, concluded the Prime Minister.

All official information relating to Coronavirus in France can be found here: https://www.gouvernement.fr/info-coronavirus .