Wearing a mask indoors is no longer compulsory (with a few exceptions), as is the presentation of the vaccination pass to have a coffee at the bar, go to the cinema or to a restaurant.

Most of the anti-Covid restrictions are lifted on Monday, March 14.

Monday's stage boils down to two major measures.

The vaccination pass, which requires being vaccinated against Covid to access many places, will be lifted even if its "health" version, which also works with a negative test for the virus, will be maintained in health establishments in the broad sense. : hospitals, nursing homes...

The mask will no longer be compulsory, with the exception of transport and, again, health establishments.

This reduction concerns in particular schools, shops and companies, which will keep the choice of whether or not to impose it on their employees.

The Ministry of Education recommends it “strongly” to contact cases “indoors for 7 days after the occurrence of the confirmed case”.

Despite an increase in cases, no change in strategy

If at the beginning of March, when these relief measures were announced by the government, the strong and long fifth wave of the epidemic was clearly coming down again, this is no longer the case.

In recent days, the number of new positive cases has even started to rise again: the average for the last seven days was more than 65,250 on Sunday, compared to 50,646 a week earlier.

This trend reversal has so far had no effect in critical care services, even if an increase in the number of hospitalizations was recorded on Sunday.

“We still have to wait a little bit to see if this trend is confirmed, but indeed at the European level, we see the same thing”, indicated Sunday on France Inter Yazdan Yazdanpanah, head of the infectious diseases department at the hospital. Bichat in Paris.

This member of the Scientific Council sees "three reasons" for this: the presence of the BA2 sub-variant "a little more transmissible", the "reopening of schools" after the holidays and "probably a relaxation of the population, which is quite normal".

Conceding that there was currently a "resumption of cases", Jean Castex however excluded, on Saturday, to "change strategy".

"For two years, there have always been risks and benefits to what we do. We are not in a situation of total certainty", explained Yazdan Yazdanpanah, recalling that this time "80% of people" are vaccinated and that "a significant proportion of the population had already been affected by the infection".

"That immunity, probably, protects us. At least in terms of hospitalizations."

Call for vigilance

If after two years of pandemic, the end of the restrictions promises to be welcomed with relief by many French people, the scientists call on everyone to keep precautions, vis-à-vis for example the immunocompromised.

"It is too early to turn the Covid page even if we really want to! We must remain vigilant", urged Tuesday on Twitter Rémi Salomon, president of the establishment commission of the AP-HP (Paris Hospitals) .

The government has also decided to open "from now on the fourth dose to people over 80" and "strongly recommends to people who are fragile because of their age or their pathologies to maintain the wearing of a mask in closed places and in large gatherings.

With AFP

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