Paris (AFP)
A 6 p.m. curfew in the East rather than a re-containment: the measure chosen by the government to slow the rebound of the Covid-19 epidemic is considered too light by local officials, a sign of their concern the day before of a high-risk New Years Eve.
"I would have liked that we were able to (...) take advantage of this holiday period (...) to be able to achieve a form of confinement", declared on France Info the president (LR) of the Grand-Est region , Jean Rottner.
“Doesn't that risk making us fall behind schedule and therefore see this epidemic pass again and run behind?”, He fears.
"I remain doubtful about the relevance of a half-measure", added on France Bleu Lorraine Valérie Beausert-Leick, president (PS) of the departmental council of Meurthe-et-Moselle.
"I hope that the future will prove us wrong and that advancing this curfew will be enough."
Striking reactions when we remember that the closures of bars and restaurants at the end of September in Marseille had on the contrary infuriated local elected officials.
"We do not want to confine at this stage: neither generalized containment, nor local containment," said the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, announcing the measures on Tuesday evening on France 2.
The government instead favors an advancement of the curfew to 6:00 p.m. instead of 8:00 p.m. in certain places in the eastern half of the country, particularly threatened by the epidemic rebound.
- "Uncontrolled recovery" -
"The curfew, which is a nighttime confinement, is a solution that shows a certain effectiveness," commented on RMC epidemiologist Yves Buisson, president of the Covid-19 group at the National Academy of Medicine.
In mid-November, the French public health agency had also estimated that the curfews imposed locally a month earlier had made it possible to slow the epidemic, even before the confinement of October 30.
According to the Ministry of Health, 20 departments are concerned, from the Ardennes to the Alpes-Maritimes via the Allier and the Haut-Rhin.
The measure should take effect from January 2, after consultation with elected officials, prefects and regional health agencies.
"Why wait for the 2nd and not do it immediately?" Asked Jean Rottner.
The Ministry of Health justifies this delay by the fact that the inflation of tests during the Christmas holidays may give a distorted view of the circulation of the virus.
A few additional days of observation are therefore necessary according to him.
Over the past seven days, an average of 12,000 new daily cases has been recorded, far from the target of 5,000.
24,743 Covid patients are hospitalized in France, including 2,666 serious cases in intensive care.
And an increase in the circulation of the virus seems to be feared after the Christmas holiday population mixes.
An "uncontrolled resumption of the epidemic" in January is "probable", warns the Scientific Council which guides the government, in an opinion made public Tuesday evening.
- Vaccination: is it dragging on?
-
To limit the breakage, the national curfew will remain in force for Thursday's Eve, when it had been exceptionally lifted on Christmas Eve.
"Do not spoil everything with the New Year's Eve of the 31st," urged in Le Parisien / Today in France the boss of the Regional Health Agency (ARS) Ile-de-France, Aurélien Rousseau.
In addition to health measures, the government faces other criticisms, on the pace of the vaccination campaign.
Many come from caregivers, like Axel Kahn, president of the League against cancer, who accuses the executive of "taking very small steps".
We must "vaccinate caregivers as a priority", he pleaded on Europe 1, while the first wave of the campaign focuses on structures for the elderly.
The slowness of the campaign has also become a political theme, with criticism rising from the right, center and left.
"Germany is already more than 42,000 vaccinated, the United Kingdom at 900,000 and France at less than 200! After the masks, the tests and the isolation, another failure would be terrible," the official said on Twitter LR Bruno Retailleau.
"This gap (...) in the start, it is assumed. What matters is that by the end of January we will have caught up with the gap", defended Mr. Véran on Tuesday, according to who must take "the time of teaching" in a country where mistrust of vaccines is strong.
© 2020 AFP