How much will our daily life change in the coming days? At the dawn of the new year, Emmanuel Macron must hold this Monday at 4 p.m. and by videoconference a Health Defense Council at 4 p.m. New measures or a strengthening of certain restrictions already in force could be decided in order to slow the progression of the Covid-19 virus in France and adapt to this new Omicron variant which could become the majority this week in France. Several hypotheses which should have an impact as much on the economy as on education or culture are on the table.
A New Year’s Eve curfew?
Who says New Year says reunion with friends, tchin tchin and hugs. The perfect ingredients for an explosive cocktail of contaminations less than a week after Christmas holidays with the family. The establishment of a curfew is therefore likely to be on the agenda. Especially since the government did not hesitate to adopt this measure last year. The curfew had been set every evening at 8 p.m. during the holiday season (except for Christmas). It “would prevent young people from partying”, indicates a government source in Parisian. However according to information from Franceinfo and
BFMTV, this restriction should not be retained, especially as nightclubs closed since December 10 will still be closed on the evening of December 31.
End of isolation of contact cases?
With nearly 100,000 daily contaminations on average last week, the number of contact cases has also jumped. However, today, the health protocol provides that these people, whether they are positive or not, vaccinated or not, must isolate themselves seven days and ten additional days if they share the same home as the positive case. An effective precaution, of course, but the problem is that this system risks leading to a complete disorganization of our society. Certain professions cannot be practiced by teleworking. For these reasons, SNCF has already been forced to cancel certain regional trains. Globally, nearly 8,000 flights have been canceled due to staff in isolation over Christmas weekend. You don’t have to be a renowned economist to foresee the disastrous financial consequences for certain companies.
Thursday, Olivier Véran had already indicated that the rules on this subject should “probably” evolve to “avoid any phenomenon of paralysis in the country”. The lifting of the isolation of contact cases could be decided for certain professions such as caregivers, or outright for all people triple vaccinated.
Back to school delayed?
In column published in the Sunday newspaper, around fifty caregivers are asking the government not to reopen the doors of schools on January 3. According to them, this date is much too close to the New Year celebrations. The signatories advocate recourse to distance education while awaiting the “return to more favorable and“ publicly defined ”health indicator thresholds. However according to
information from Franceinfo, the extension of the school holidays would not be on the agenda for the executive.
Culture on the sidelines?
After discos, is it the turn of theaters, concerts, cinema or even museums to close their doors in order to avoid any proliferation of the virus indoors? This measure has recently been in effect in Belgium until January 28. It could again lead those involved in culture to take to the streets to protest. However, according to the Parisian who quotes a source from Bercy, it is not the will of the president who would even wish to avoid a return of the gauges in these places welcoming the public.
Wearing a mask outside?
The measure has already been adopted by our Italian, Greek and Spanish neighbors. The government could take inspiration from it and impose the return of the mask outdoors in the center of large cities and in the event of a gathering. But the decision could be up to the prefect of each community. In Savoie, for example, the prefecture has already imposed it during the holiday season, for example.