Paris (AFP)
The establishment of a third confinement is not excluded if the epidemic situation "were to worsen", affirms the Minister of Health Olivier Véran in the Journal du Dimanche, on the occasion of the launch of the vaccination campaign in France .
"We never rule out measures that may be necessary to protect populations. That does not mean that we have decided, but that we are observing the situation hour by hour," he underlines in an interview.
The authorities fear the arrival of a third wave in the weeks following the end of year holidays.
Especially since the circulation of the virus is still important, with "15,000 contaminations detected per day on average, while we had fallen to 11,000 ...", points Mr. Véran.
"The objective of 5,000 (cases of contamination per day) is moving away. And the pressure on the health system remains high, with 1,500 hospitalizations per day, a tension which decreases very little in intensive care", underlines the minister, who said they were ready to take "the necessary measures if the situation worsened".
The situation is already worrying in the "Grand Est, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and the Alpes-Maritimes department, starting with Nice", with "an" increase in the incidence among the elderly in certain rural areas ".
Several mayors in eastern France, including Reims, have been pleading for several days to "reconfigure either on a territorial basis or at the national level".
While many countries have already taken measures of reconfinement, France has "made the choice of strict and difficult measures earlier to let the French breathe during the holidays", defends the minister, even if "that worked, not enough, of course ", with more than 40,000 new cases of Covid recorded in 48 hours (Thursday and Friday).
Only 3,093 cases were recorded on Saturday with the Christmas truce and the closure of laboratories.
"We will quickly know if the family and festive gatherings will have an impact", affirms Mr. Véran after an exceptional lifting of the curfew on the evening of 24 to allow the French to move.
For the New Year, he advises not to celebrate it.
"We cannot, for one evening, take the risk of blocking the country again for weeks."
Vaccination will begin on Sunday morning with around ten elderly people and a volunteer caregiver in the long-term care unit of René-Muret hospital in Sevran (Seine-Saint-Denis).
The Champmaillot geriatric center dependent on the Dijon University Hospital will be the second location for the launch of this campaign.
"This vaccine protects 95% of individuals against severe cases and will save a lot of lives," said the minister, recalling that "for the elderly, the risk of dying from Covid-19 is high".
© 2020 AFP