The Prime Minister, Jean Castex, announced this Monday the return of mandatory remote work and limits for gatherings. The period to benefit from the booster shot has also been revised to three months after the second dose. For now, the government is refraining from imposing a curfew and is maintaining the planned date for the school reopening.
Jean Castex described the health situation as “extremely tense”: the threshold of 100,000 daily cases was crossed on Christmas Day, and the situation in hospitals is worsening day by day. More than 3,330 patients are in intensive care.
For the government, it is necessary to keep the situation under control in hospitals while avoiding shutting down the country. The decisions made are not solely based on health imperatives. The course remains very narrow, as the data regarding the severity of Omicron is still incomplete.
The executive continues to bet everything on vaccination and seeks to convince the 5 to 6 million eligible French people who are not vaccinated to take action.
The bill providing for the transformation of the health pass into a vaccination pass was adopted in the Council of Ministers. This new pass, proving a complete vaccination scheme, will replace the health pass from January 15. The government wants to move quickly and hopes for its adoption by the National Assembly and the Senate by the end of next week.
