Paris (AFP)
The government intends to take new measures next week to prevent a "rapid fourth wave" of Covid-19 due to the Delta variant from hitting the end of the crisis promised by Emmanuel Macron.
The Head of State will chair an exceptional Health Defense Council on Monday to decide in particular on the vaccination obligation for caregivers and the extension of the health pass.
The head of state must then speak to the French, by July 14.
He "will take into account health data", according to government spokesman Gabriel Attal, to lay the groundwork for his action for the rest of his five-year term and take stock of the reforms envisaged, in particular on the possible launch of a pension reform before 2022.
The number of new cases has seen "an increase of over 20% in seven days" and "among 20-29 year olds the incidence rate has practically doubled in one week," he explained.
"Eleven regions are seeing their incidence rate increase," he added, citing the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region and Ile-de-France including Paris.
He said the situation was also deteriorating rapidly in Reunion Island or Martinique.
At the national level, the number of daily cases is also back on Wednesday above 4,000, for the first time in nearly a month.
The executive fears that France will experience the same situation as in the United Kingdom, Spain or Portugal, where "the variant has caused a considerable acceleration of the epidemic", while the world has passed the four milestone. million deaths from Covid-19.
Faced with this risk, "the time has come for general mobilization" for "mass vaccination" because the latter is "our trump card to get out of the tunnel", repeated the spokesperson.
"France is not an anti-vaccine country" but it still has "a lot" of people who say: "I'm waiting" to get vaccinated, according to him.
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The government is worried about a slowdown in the pace of vaccinations even if an increase in appointments has been noted in recent days.
In total, 52.1% of the population, or 35.1 million people, have received at least one injection, and 38.3% (25.8 million) are fully vaccinated, the Directorate General of Health said on Wednesday. .
The authorities' objective is to vaccinate 40 million French people by first injection by the end of August and to achieve 35 million complete vaccination schedules, or two-thirds of adults.
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The exhortations for vaccination are also launched by many players in the economic world, such as the large federations of businesses, who do not want to be forced to lower their curtains.
"Let's vaccinate to avoid a fourth confinement!", Synthesized Wednesday Francis Palombi, president of the Confederation of traders of France (CDF).
For several days, the government has been preparing the spirits for a possible obligation of vaccination for caregivers.
In a joint declaration, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, and about fifteen professional organizations in the sector (doctors and nurses, federations of health and medico-social establishments, etc.) said they were in favor, at the end of the day. of a meeting Wednesday at the end of the day.
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They want the "passage of a law as soon as possible if it proves necessary".
Monday's Defense Council could also decide on new restrictions for certain territories, such as the Landes, or at the borders.
The possibility of an extension of the health pass is also being considered, as also claimed by Xavier Bertrand, right-wing presidential candidate in 2022, for whom "it must be developed much faster".
On the other hand, the discotheques are always supposed to reopen Friday as planned, without obligation of the wearing of the mask, while these closed places closed for 15 months are considered as at risk by the scientists.
© 2021 AFP