Faced with the increase in cases of coronavirus contamination, new health restrictions, including the extension of the health pass, were announced by Emmanuel Macron last week and detailed by Jean Castex on Wednesday. Certain provisions are still unclear and risk giving rise to complex or even difficult to apply situations.
Masks compulsory outdoors but not indoors, health pass without identity document, isolation measures with breaks at noon and in the evening … 20 minutes takes stock of the gray areas that remain.
Health pass control, but not identity
Since Wednesday, the health pass has been extended to all places of leisure and culture, bringing together more than 50 people. The French who go there will have to present proof of vaccination, a negative PCR or antigen test or certificate of recovery. In this case, access will be refused to them. And this is where the situation gets tough. The managers of the establishments will have to check, via the application AllAntiCovid Verif, the validity of the health pass presented.
A puzzle for these establishments, and in particular the cinemas: “To control 1,200 people while the spectators arrive a quarter of an hour before and it takes 20 to 25 seconds to control each person? “Asks Richard Patry, president of the National Federation of French Cinemas.
However, the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, exempted the operators of these places from carrying out identity checks: “Establishments open to the public will be responsible for checking the pass, on the other hand, all that is verification of documents. identity is not their responsibility, but that of the security forces, ”he said on Wednesday at 13 Hours of TF1. “We are satisfied that we do not have to do identity checks”, reacted Didier Chenet, his counterpart from the union of independent hotel and catering (GNI). But this device could lead to abuse.
How to know if the health pass presented belongs to the one who shows it? Identity checks will be carried out by the police, at random, around these places. A device that does not delight the police union either: “It seems to me really far from the reality of the police profession,” said Gregory Joron, SGP Police unit secretary, to our colleagues at Franceinfo. Especially since this new mission is in addition to those already incumbent on the police.
The mandatory mask outdoors, but not indoors
If the obligation to wear a mask outdoors was lifted in mid-June, some departments have re-imposed it in recent days. Pyrénées-Atlantique, Var, Vendée… Many prefects and local elected officials have declared his return, even outside, to fight against the increase in cases of contamination, linked to the Delta variant, which is more contagious.
At the same time, the decree specifying the outlines of the health pass, published on July 20, specifies that people with a health pass will be able to remove the mask in places where the control of this pass is mandatory. In other words, at the cinema, the theater or the museum, if you present a health certificate at the entrance, you can remove your mask indoors. A dramatic measure, explained Michaël Rochoy, this Wednesday, to 20 minutes : “With the PCR test, there is a greater chance of having infected people. If you take off your mask in the cinema, for example, whole rooms will be contaminated without understanding anything, it’s a very bad idea. “
This is not the only complexity. If this measure concerns the public, employees who work in places where the health pass is mandatory will have to keep the mask until August 30, even if they are vaccinated or tested negative. The reason ? For them, the health pass will not become compulsory until August 30.
Isolation compulsory, but not between 10 and 12 hours
The health bill also provides for tougher isolation measures for people positive for the coronavirus, whether or not they are vaccinated. The latter will have to isolate themselves for ten days, starting from their test… but will be able to go out between 10 am and 12 noon. However, no terrace or shopping for these people. This time slot is exclusively reserved for essential purchases and outings “in case of emergency or to make trips that are strictly essential and cannot be carried out within this time slot”, specifies the text. The police (again) will be able to carry out home checks between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., and 12 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Another curiosity, people fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, designated contact cases, will not be subject to the recommendation to isolate themselves if they test negative. A measure that can be confusing, the vaccine does not prevent catching the virus or transmitting it. “The complete vaccination schedule does not eliminate the risk of being a carrier or of transmitting the virus, but it greatly reduces it”, explained Michaël Rochoy, believing that the goal was above all “to encourage people to be vaccinated and to show them that one finds a normal life as soon as one is vaccinated ”.