LIVE – “I’m doing well”: Castex gives news after testing positive for Covid-19

After testing positive for Covid-19 on Monday evening, Prime Minister Jean Castex posted a message on Twitter this Tuesday afternoon, thanking “all those” who “sent him” friendly messages and testimonials from affection”.

“With the exception of slight symptoms, I am doing well and continue to perform my duties in isolation, in strict compliance with the health protocol,” the head of government also assured.

Among the ten ministers declared to have been in contact with the Prime Minister, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday evening, all tested negative, except the Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot, whose test result is still awaited.

Faced with the 5th wave which hits the European continent particularly hard, the World Health Organization says it fears 700,000 additional deaths from Covid-19 by the spring.

The Minister in charge of small and medium-sized enterprises Alain Griset as well as the Secretary of State to the Minister of the Armed Forces, Geneviève Darrieussecq, contact cases of Jean Castex were in turn tested negative for Covid-19.

Nine out of ten ministers have therefore tested negative. The result of Roselyne Bachelot’s test is yet to come.

Positive for Covid-19, Jean Castex will be replaced by Jean-Michel Blanquer this Tuesday in the Assembly during the traditional session of questions to the government.

The reason is due to protocol: as Jean-Yves Le Drian is currently traveling abroad and Barbara Pompili is in Strasbourg, Jean-Michel Blanquer is the most senior member of the government.

The Minister of the Armed Forces, also in contact with the Prime Minister, was also tested negative.

Contact case of Jean Castex, the Minister of Justice was tested negative, as the Minister in charge of Relations with Parliament, Marc Fesneau.

Faced with the rise in epidemic indicators, Marine Le Pen may call for “caution”, she asks at the same time the alleviation of health constraints this morning on France Inter.

“Let’s lift all these constraints which are starting to become terribly burdensome for the French. We continue to wash our hands and put on the mask where there are people. That’s what we have to do,” said the candidate from the RN to the presidential election.

The deputy of Pas-de-Calais also questioned the maintenance of the health pass.

“I am vaccinated, I think the vaccine is useful in preventing severe forms of covid. That is a certainty. The real question is: does it prevent the circulation of the virus. I lean? that today, the answer is no. So what is the health pass for? “asked Marine Le Pen.

The Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune, in turn, tested negative. He had been placed in solitary confinement since the announcement of the positive test of the head of government Jean Castex, whom he had accompanied on a trip to Brussels on Monday.

Eric Ciotti, interviewed this morning on RTL, denounced “the slowness of the government” in the face of the fifth wave of Covid-19 and called for the opening of the third dose for all.

“Of course we need the third dose for everyone. We are wasting time. We always have a delay in this crisis. Why wait? The scientific committee says it is necessary. We need this third dose everywhere, the as quickly as possible and for everyone, “argued the candidate for the LR congress.

Gérald Darmanin sent a message of firmness in the fight against Covid this morning on France Inter.

“Yes, there was a relaxation of controls (of the health pass) at the end of the summer (…). We went back at the request of the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic to 50,000 to 60,000 checks per week at the moment. We had 460 verbalizations last week “, first indicated the Minister of the Interior.

While health indicators are deteriorating, the tenant of Place Beauvau does not rule out the possibility of tightening up the constraints.

“If we do this, it is because for all those who receive the public apply the health pass. Otherwise, we will have to do as other countries and apply restrictions in shops, in places of life and no one has want to return to this situation, “said Gérald Darmanin.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu and Tourism Minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne have tested negative and are therefore no longer considered as contact cases.

They had been placed in solitary confinement following the revelation of the positive test of Prime Minister Jean Castex.

Interviewed this morning on France 2, Sébastien Lecornu returned to Jean Castex, tested positive and in isolation.

“When you are a minister, you meet a lot more people. Mathematically, you increase the chances of being ill. It is clear that there was among some of our fellow citizens, in metropolitan France as well as overseas, the covid is behind us. We can see that he remembers us, “said the Minister of Overseas France.

The Prime Minister has been criticized several times for his relaxation of barrier gestures in recent weeks.

Israel began its anti-Covid vaccination campaign for children aged five to eleven on Monday evening, becoming one of the first countries, after the United States, to lower the age of access to the vaccine to curb the pandemic.

The Israeli government had planned to launch the vaccination campaign on Tuesday in the hope of preventing a possible fifth wave of contamination, but as of Monday evening doses were administered to the little ones.

Israel was the first country to launch a campaign to administer a massive booster dose, already granted to more than four million people, and to lower the age of access to the vaccine to 12 years.

To launch this new campaign to immunize children, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett must have his youngest son vaccinated Tuesday morning at a clinic in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, his services said.

On several occasions before his positive test, the Prime Minister was criticized for his lack of respect for barrier gestures. Recently, it was during the AMF congress, bringing together all the mayors of France, that he was seen shaking hands, without a mask.

Government spokesman Gabriel Attal had rushed to the aid of his leader, pleading for temporary relaxation.

“From time to time there may be a moment of inattention, a gap,” he adds.

Prime Minister Jean Castex tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday. He had been in solitary confinement since his 11-year-old daughter tested positive, revealed earlier today.

Many contact cases, including 10 ministers, were also placed in solitary confinement and invited to be tested as soon as possible.

Welcome to this live dedicated to monitoring news related to the Covid-19 pandemic.