January 4th – Jerome Salomon, Director-General of the French General of Health, said through Sunday on the 3rd that the current pandemic situation in France is worrying.
After a considerable period of stagnation, the incidence rate rose again in early December 2020, and it will take at least four months of collective efforts to make the pandemic. The prevention and control of the situation has entered the next stage.
According to French BFM TV, Jerome Salomon said that the French government is vigilant about the occurrence of COVID-19 variants in the United Kingdom and South Africa. These new strains are not necessarily more dangerous, but they are more infectious and will also have a greater impact on young people. Therefore, it is necessary to pay close attention to the start of school.
The post-campus environment, students returning from different places in France or abroad, may have an impact on the epidemiological situation, and the weather in the next few days is also very unfavorable. He called on the public to continue to work together and survive the winter until vaccinations work.
Some French health experts and epidemiologists have called for schools not to reopen in early January in light of the “worrisome” pandemic situation in France. However, when visiting BFM TV on the 3rd, Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blancay confirmed that the new school year after the holiday will begin on Monday, January 4.
He explained that some countries that have delayed return to school, such as the United Kingdom, are experiencing “special hardships”, but France should be able to ensure that students return to classes under the conditions of implementing the enhanced health protocol, and the infection rate on campus is “only” 0.3% before the Christmas holiday.
Jean-Michele Blanche assured that the government is watching the evolution of the pandemic every day. Now is very suitable for reopening schools, because the health protocol is better followed than ever, and he hopes to vaccinate teachers against the novel coronavirus by March.
Curfews in 15 departments of Haute-Alpes, Alpes-Mer-Mer, Ardennes, Du, Jura, Man, Haut-Marne, Merte-Moselle, Meuse, Haute-Sau-Sau, Vosgesges, Belfort, Moselle, Nièvelle and Sauron-Loire in France begin on the 2nd It has been advanced to 18:00, involving about 6 million people.
Curfews in other areas still start at 20 o’clock, but the pandemic indicators in some areas are close to the decisive threshold of the government. By January 7, authorities would make “necessary decisions” if the situation in certain areas worsened further, said Gabriel Attal, a spokesman for the French government.
January 7 is the date the French government is scheduled to re-examine the opening of cultural institutions such as cinemas and theaters, but Gabriel Attal revealed that cultural institutions are “unlikely likely” to reopen at that time. In addition, January 20 is the date the government is scheduled to review the opening of restaurants.
Restaurants have been administratively closed since October 29, 2020, waiting for the reopening of business on January 20, but with the high pandemic data in France, the possibility of opening as scheduled has become less and less.
Alain Grissé, France’s ministerial representative for small and medium-sized enterprises, said in an interview with Euro1 Radio 1 on the 3rd that according to the current pandemic data, it is impossible to consider reopening restaurants and bars on January 20.
The authorities will make a final decision around the 10th, but the possibility of allowing them to open is very low.
As of the afternoon of the 3rd local time, France had 12,489 new confirmed cases in 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2655,728 and the total number of deaths was 65,037.
