Gabriel Attal, government spokesperson, in October 2020 in Paris -

NICOLAS MESSYASZ / SIPA

Asking the elderly to self-isolate to protect them from the coronavirus epidemic, as the Scientific Council suggests, "seems to be very complicated," said government spokesman Gabriel Attal on Friday.

"We have to see what it corresponds to and if it is effective," he said on France 2, noting however that "there has been no proven effectiveness of such a measure" according to the Minister of Health Olivier Véran and that there is "no country in the world which confines only one generation and not the others".

A “social contract” between generations

These people “are already the most confined people, they have reduced their interactions, most of them sometimes have not seen their children, their grandchildren for a year.

So, we have to see what an additional step is: does that mean no longer going out for shopping, (…) no longer receiving help at home (…)?

It seems very complicated, ”said Gabriel Attal.

Members of the Scientific Council, which guides the government in its management of the epidemic, believe that it is no longer necessary to chain confinements but to opt for a "social contract" between generations where the oldest and most vulnerable would agree to self-help. isolate.

The restrictions lifted in the coming weeks?

Asked also about the period during which the curfew at 6 p.m. will still remain in force, Gabriel Attal considered that the measure "made it possible to stabilize the health situation", that "it is important that it remains in place and continues to be respected ”.

He said that last week, more than 420,000 checks were carried out on people and 10,000 on establishments, resulting in some 50,000 verbalizations, an increase of 11% compared to the previous week.

The objective is to see "a decline" of the epidemic happen, and at this stage "it is not there, in any case it is not massive".

But with "the vaccination which continues to be deployed", "we can hope that in the coming weeks, the next months, we can start to ease the restrictions," he said.

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