Paris (AFP)

Emmanuel Macron, who goes to an anti-Covid vaccination center on Monday, asks to hold "between four and six weeks", in the midst of a debate on strengthening restrictions in 20 departments which fear a new explosion of the epidemic.

"We have to hold out for a few more weeks, four to six weeks," said the Head of State without further clarification, on the occasion of a visit to Stains, in Seine-Saint-Denis, to a young man who spoke to him. asked at least to push back the curfew to 7:00 p.m. against 6:00 p.m. "because it's hard".

France, faced with a sustained epidemic recovery, is entering a pivotal week in the fight against Covid-19, as the government tries to avoid generalized containment, relying on vaccination and territorialized measures to contain the epidemic.

Consultations are currently underway between prefects and local elected officials from 20 departments, located in particular in Ile-de-France and around large metropolises (Lyon, Marseille, Lille) who fear a new explosion of contamination with the spread of variants.

Local confinements on weekends, as in Nice and Dunkirk, could be ordered at the end of these consultations.

At the same time, the executive is counting on the rise of vaccination, especially among the most vulnerable and caregivers, in order to try to alleviate hospital pressure.

Jean Castex announced that in mid-May, "all people over 50 will have been offered a first injection" against Covid-19.

So far, only nearly three million people have received at least one dose, including 1.561 million two doses.

After Stains, Emmanuel Macron must also go to a vaccination center in Bobigny, east of Paris, dedicated to the most precarious seniors, two months after the start of the vaccination campaign.

On Monday, several organizations of entertainment professionals (theater, music, cinemas, etc.) called on the State to "change the method" to "deconfinate culture", while the deputy mayor of Paris David Belliard pleaded to "open up cultural places".

The Head of State must also hold a meeting this week with members of the government to prepare the establishment of a "health pass", which will not be a "vaccination passport", with a view to the reopening of cultural places and restaurants closed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the European level, where the idea of ​​a vaccination pass must be debated, France managed on Sunday to keep its border with Germany open, but a negative test of less than 48 hours will now be required without any exception from Tuesday at 00:00 from the Moselle, a situation which concerns 16,000 French workers.

- Additional restrictions in Paris and its region?

Too slow?

The first effects of vaccination on hospital pressure and deaths are expected within a month, experts say.

Until then, possible new restrictions in Paris and Île-de-France will be at the heart of meetings scheduled for Monday.

The city hall of the capital had sown the disorder, Friday, by calling for a confinement of three weeks, before turning back.

"A decision like this cannot be announced without consultation with the departments of the small crown and the greater crown," said Monday the number one of La République en Marche, Stanislas Guerini, on Public Senate.

Among the proposed measures, both town hall and region are calling for greater use of teleworking.

The number two of the RN, Jordan Bardella, candidate head of the regional list in Île-de-France, for his part estimated Monday on RTL that "in areas of tension, we must not refrain from local measures".

Sunday, in Paris, the 3,600 police and gendarmes deployed tried to regulate the massive influx on the quays of the Seine.

In Toulouse, the prefecture has prohibited access to the banks of the Garonne.

Fears of an out of control circulation of the virus is also reinforced by the start of the school year in zone C on Monday, which includes in particular the academies of Paris, Toulouse and Bordeaux.

Nearly 3,500 people with the coronavirus were treated on Sunday in intensive care units, an indicator in slow progression, as well as the number of cases, which rose from 140,000 to 150,000 in one week.

© 2021 AFP