Mandatory measures of quarantine or solitary confinement are therefore part of the arsenal desired by the government. The bill extending the state of health emergency, presented this Saturday, May 2 in the Council of Ministers, provides for such measures only for individuals arriving from abroad. But the practical details are still unclear. Update on what we know.
Who will be affected?
Quarantine and isolation will concern people who have "stayed in an area of circulation of the infection" and who come to France from abroad, who arrive in French island territories from the mainland, or who arrive in mainland from these island territories. The goal is to "avoid the international spread of the virus (case of people arriving from abroad)" and "protect more fragile territories due to their isolated or insular situation (overseas and Corsica)", specifies Parisian Matignon.
"Anyone" even asymptomatic in one of these cases will be quarantined, while those tested positive on French soil will be placed in stricter isolation, said the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, this Saturday. "There will first be a quarantine phase with a test and then, if the test is positive, an isolation phase," the Prime Minister's office told us this Sunday.
It is unclear what is meant by the term "infection circulation areas", the list of which should be made public in the coming days. It can however be assumed that this will cover a very large part of the world, the virus being present (at different levels) in almost 200 countries.
Unlike a first version of the bill, the text presented in the Council of Ministers (and which will be debated on Monday in the Senate) does not provide for such forced isolation measures for the French already present on the national territory and tested positive. "We make the choice of conscience and responsibility," said Olivier Véran this Saturday.
How will it work in practice?
We do not know, for the moment, what exactly are the differences between "quarantine" and isolation, nor what is covered by quarantine. The modalities (duration, place, travel restrictions) will be determined "according to the nature and modes of spread of the infection", after advice from the Scientific Council.
Olivier Véran recalled the example of the quarantine of dozens of French people repatriated from China in February, forced to spend fourteen days in holiday centers on their arrival.
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"Unless the interested party consents, quarantine or placement in solitary confinement cannot continue beyond a period of fourteen days", we read in the bill, which is also recalled by Council of State in its opinion. We can therefore speak of "fourteen" rather than "quarantine". An appeal is possible before the liberty and detention judge and all the measures may not exceed one month in total. Their non-compliance may be "punished", but it is not yet known how.
"Why do you want to quarantine someone who is not sick?" It does not make sense, "storms her side the socialist senator of French nationals abroad Hélène Conway-Mouret, who does not want" anyone who comes from abroad to be suspected of being sick ". For the former Minister Delegate in charge of French Abroad, joined by Le Parisien, it would be better to systematically test each person arriving in France as soon as they set foot on the ground. “If she is contaminated, she is put in isolation until she is no longer sick. Otherwise, it follows the classic rules of social distancing, ”she says.
What about border workers?
This automatic and compulsory quarantine raises the question of the status of frontier workers. More than 360,000 people living in France near the borders work in a bordering country, in particular in Switzerland, Luxembourg and Germany, and a part of them always go (or will go from May 11) physically to work every day. Matignon was unable to tell us if they will be exempt from mandatory quarantine.
"Has the government taken the measure that nearly 400,000 people risk losing their jobs," warns French senator from abroad Ronan Le Gleut (Les Républicains), stressing that "70% of the staff of some hospital services in Geneva are cross-border residents living in France ”. "There is panic among these French people who live near the border concerning the impact on their family or professional life," he points out. “They have certificates that allow them to go back and forth, even if we observed some tensions at the Franco-German border. For those, I imagine it won't change anything. How do you want to quarantine hundreds of thousands of people, ”wonders his side, his colleague Hélène Conway-Mouret.