The measure had not been announced by Emmanuel Macron, but it will be part of the government's new arsenal to counter the Covid-19 epidemic, and the progression of the Delta variant.
His new bill, examined from Tuesday in the National Assembly - for final adoption by the end of the week, provides for strict conditions of isolation for people who test positive.
A new rule which also raises several questions.
The Parisian answers it.
What does this compulsory isolation consist of?
All people detected positive for Covid-19 must be isolated "for a non-renewable period of ten days in the place of accommodation that they determine", from the date of their virological screening, "or of any convincing medical examination concluding that there is contamination ”with Covid-19, we read in the government's bill.
This isolation already concerned unvaccinated passengers arriving in France from a country classified as red by the State.
If during this period of isolation, a new test is carried out and proves negative, the placement in isolation may "cease to apply", specifies the bill.
In the event of non-compliance, the persons concerned are liable to a fine of up to 1,500 euros.
What are the exit procedures?
People who test positive for Covid-19 are not allowed to go out for ten days, except between 10 a.m. and noon.
Outside of these hours, it is possible to go out "in an emergency", or to make trips "strictly essential and cannot be carried out within this time slot".
In the event of "family or personal constraints" valid, it is possible to "ask the representative of the State (the prefect, Editor's note) to arrange these hours of exit because of their family or personal constraints which they justify", reads -on in the bill.
A judge of freedoms can also be seized for an appeal or requests for accommodation.
How will isolated people be controlled?
It will be up to the police to "go to the place of accommodation declared by the person concerned to ensure his presence, with the exception of the times when he is authorized to be absent as well as between 11 p.m. and 8 hours ”. But will the police and gendarmes (around 280,000 in total in France) be able to really carry out these checks, while the number of daily positive cases (nearly 10,000 currently) could rise to 30,000 or even 50,000 in august? "It is materially impossible," says Patrice Ribeiro, general secretary of the Synergie-Officiers union.
The police are already carrying out “random” checks at the homes of people returning from a country at risk and classified as “red”.
But their number is obviously much lower than that of positive cases on French soil.
“Right now, the only thing we're doing is this kind of home check.
We will have to see the instructions we will be given, but it is first and foremost urgency that rules, with violence, drug trafficking, etc.
»Insists Patrice Ribeiro.
As for any checks in the public space, he considers them impossible to carry out.
What about people vaccinated and tested positive?
The infectious disease specialist Anne-Claude Crémieux told us recently: “We expect the vaccine, and in particular after two doses, that it protects above all against hospitalizations.
If vaccination also reduces the risk of becoming infected, the effectiveness is not 100%.
It is therefore quite possible for a vaccinated person to test positive, but they are less likely to have symptoms and a fortiori to have a severe form of the disease.
Will the vaccinated also have to respect isolation?
The bill's section on isolation does not distinguish between vaccinated and unvaccinated, suggesting that the answer would be yes.
It might seem unfair, but the risk of transmission, if reduced through vaccination - according to many studies - is not absent.
What should contact vaccinated cases do?
In its opinion posted online this Sunday, the High Council of Public Health (HCSP) recommends that vaccinated people and contact cases "at proven risk of Covid-19" to perform a virological test (PCR or antigen) "on D0 and D7 ”(It is“ not necessary ”to be tested in the event of less close contact).
"Compliance with barrier measures if contacts within a household are repeated is" recommended "but" isolation is not necessary ", continues the health authority.
The advice of this institution is often followed by the government. Will this be the case again? “What could be recorded is that if you are doubly vaccinated, you would no longer be declared a contact case when you have been in contact with a sick person (...) except in a situation such as living under the same roof as a person fragile, ”said Olivier Véran this Tuesday morning on RTL, suggesting that it would not be recommended for vaccinated contact cases to isolate themselves. But the decision has not yet been formalized.