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Covid-19: extended curfew, teleworking, closure of schools ... these alternatives to re-containment

2020-10-25T15:20:57.418Z


If the possibility of re-containment is officially on the table, other measures can be considered in addition to the curfew such as


The word is no longer taboo at the top of the state.

“It is too early today to say whether we are moving towards local or wider reconfigurations.

We will try, each time, to reduce the places, the times when we have identified that the virus was circulating a lot, ”Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, during a visit to the Pontoise hospital center (Val- of Oise).

Re-containment, at the level of a city, a department, or even the whole country as in Ireland, would it therefore be the only way to fight against the epidemic if it continued to progress, while some already anticipating a second wave "worse" than the first?

There is no “at the present time, a miracle recipe to fight against this pandemic,” the epidemiologist Pascal Crepey told us a few days ago.

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Nevertheless, the examples abroad and studies make it possible to list several alternative measures, while being more restrictive than the only curfew in force since this Saturday for two thirds of the French population.

Extend the curfew

The most obvious is to rely on what is already in place: the curfew, therefore.

This currently applies from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. in 54 metropolitan departments and Polynesia.

Until this Saturday, only Île-de-France and eight metropolises were concerned, at the same times.

“It is too early to measure the effects of the curfew.

We will reassess [next week] the device to possibly harden it, ”Jean Castex said Thursday.

Two avenues can be considered for this: widening the working hours or extending the territories to which this “night confinement” applies.

Until then, it is therefore the second option that has been chosen.

But several examples show that the curfew often applies earlier and earlier over the weeks.

In Guyana, it was imposed from 11 p.m. at the start of deconfinement.

The schedule was then lowered several times, until it reached 5 p.m. on June 25.

The epidemic having "calmed down" on the border territory of Brazil, the curfew has only applied from midnight to 5 am since the end of September.

Make telework compulsory

From this Monday, teleworking will become compulsory in Brussels and its region.

Only certain employees having no other choice will be able to continue to travel to go to work, but the authorities are planning reinforced controls.

In Italy, the government has set the mandatory teleworking gauge for its civil servants at 75%.

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Nothing like this takes place in France, where working from home is only “highly recommended”.

In his interview on October 14, Emmanuel Macron had recommended, "where possible and negotiated as close to the ground as possible, two to three days of telework per week".

“Teleworking, when you have a nice second home and work, it's great.

When we have an apartment, when the children are at home, when we are overcrowded, it quickly becomes heavy.

We need to exchange with colleagues, ”argued the Head of State.

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Still, teleworking is one of the most effective measures to cope with a resumption of the epidemic, such as the one currently experiencing in France, according to a study published on October 22 in the scientific journal The Lancet.

Coupled with a ban on public events and a limit on public gatherings to ten people, this would lower the reproduction number "R" (that is, the average number that an infected individual will infect) by 38%. in 28 days.

"It is an effective measure and surely more acceptable than others because everyone can organize themselves", approves the infectious disease specialist Benjamin Davido, of the hospital.

As long as you stick to it five days out of five.

“Only two days of teleworking means that for three days you risk infecting yourself.

Instead of the contamination taking place on Monday, it will take place on Thursday, which does not allow the transmission chains to be broken, ”he explains.

Limit long trips

Until then, there is no question for the government to restrict long-distance journeys.

“We have not decided to reduce travel between regions.

[…] It is the choice not to infantilize but to empower, ”Emmanuel Macron indicated on October 14.

But we were then… two days before the school holidays of All Saints.

What if, at the start of the school year, the government decides otherwise?

Certainly, "the virus is everywhere", as the Minister Delegate for Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, said this Sunday morning on Europe 1. In other words, all regions of the country are (more or less) concerned by the rebound of the epidemic.

Nevertheless, several of them, especially in the west of the country, still seem relatively spared.

Residents of heavily affected metropolises who would go there would thus risk "bringing" the virus there.

Putting cities "under cover"

When we talk about "confinement", we immediately have in mind to do so no longer being able to leave our home.

But the authorities could also decide to re-define the population of a city or a metropolis… within it!

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Among our neighbors, this is what was imposed in Madrid, for example.

At the beginning of October, the Spanish authorities decided to limit entry into the capital and its suburbs to a few specific reasons, such as going to work or going to the doctor.

Conversely, leaving the province was in theory prohibited, with some exceptions.

Close schools ...

Schools, colleges and high schools are still open everywhere in France, while 50% of university courses must take place behind.

Conversely, the Czech Republic decided in mid-October to close its primary and elementary schools for several weeks.

It must be said that the country of Central Europe is the most affected on the continent.

Compared to the population, the number of new cases is twice that in France.

In Italy, 75% of high school and university courses will be held online from Monday.

The study published in The Lancet seems to prove them right since the closure of schools is also one of the measures that would be the most effective if we want to avoid re-containment.

… Or bars, restaurants, museums…

Museums, theaters and restaurants can also remain open anywhere in France, although they must obviously close by 9 p.m. in areas under curfew.

Only bars (that is to say establishments that sell alcohol "as a main activity") are already prohibited from opening their doors during the day in these departments on maximum alert.

Furthermore, if gatherings of more than six people are prohibited in public spaces in areas under curfew, this does not generally concern those of a professional nature, funeral ceremonies or even protest demonstrations.

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Should we go further?

If "nothing should be excluded when we see the situation in our hospitals", as Jean Castex has indicated several times in recent weeks, a total closure does not seem to be part of the government's tracks.

It must be said that it must also deal with economic and social issues, in addition to the purely health issue.

All this also depends on the way in which the population accepts and respects the measures decided upon, whatever they may be.

The million downloads of the TousAntiCovid tracking application in 48 hours of Thursday and Saturday (against 1.8 million during the first three weeks of its predecessor StopCovid in June), according to the Secretary of State for Digital Cédric O, seems to show a beginning of awareness of the gravity of the situation.

“People were devastated by the announcement of the curfew.

This produced an electric shock, ”Judge Benjamin Davido.

Source: leparis

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