These are warnings rather than sanctions that Prime Minister Jean Castex and Minister of Health Olivier Véran wanted to give this Thursday evening at their press conference.
The government has listed several departments where the situation is worrying, without deciding on new restrictive measures ... immediately.
Jean Castex spoke of departments giving rise to "maximum vigilance", due to a "high level of incidence, on the one hand of variants greater than 50 and hospital pressure close to the critical threshold".
The government specifically draws attention to 20 departments.
In Hauts-de-France, all four are concerned - Pas-de-Calais, Nord, Somme and Oise - as are the eight departments of the Île-de-France region.
In Paca, the Alpes-Maritimes, Bouches-du-Rhône and Var are on maximum alert.
Finally, in the Grand-Est, Moselle and Meurthe-et-Moselle are more particularly affected.
In addition, there are Drôme, Eure-et-Loire and the Rhône.
The idea, said the Prime Minister, is that the prefectures concerned can launch consultations now to act quickly.
On Monday, the Alpes-Maritimes prefecture announced, after the arrival of Olivier Véran, partial confinement on weekends and the closure of supermarkets of more than 5,000 m2.
The Minister of Health announced the same device on Saturday for the agglomeration of Dunkirk (North).
Contaminations that are on the rise
On Wednesday, the government spokesperson, Gabriel Attal, spoke of “a dozen departments” where the situation was, in the eyes of the government, “worrying” due to the resurgence of Covid-19.
Without giving a list, he had already mentioned the regions of Hauts-de-France, Île-de-France, Grand Est and Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur.
This degradation "requires rapid and strong measures", added the government spokesperson.
After following a long plateau, the number of new contaminations is indeed on the rise in France.
On Wednesday, 31,519 new contaminations were noted over the last 24 hours.
There were 5,000 fewer a week earlier.
As of Wednesday, more than 25,000 people were hospitalized in France due to a Covid-19 infection, including more than 3,400 in intensive care units.