One week before New Year's Eve on December 24 and two weeks before that of December 31, the Scientific Council fears a massive surge in the Covid-19 epidemic during this reunion between relatives.
In a notice published on Saturday, the body called on the government to introduce “significant restrictions” in the face of the risk of transmission of the epidemic.
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"In view of the acceleration of the epidemic, and the risks associated with the festive activities at the end of the year, significant restrictive measures must be able to be taken by the authorities on the occasion of New Year's Eve (including where applicable under the form of limitation of collective activities or curfews), with the possibility of a territorial variation, ”writes this Council, responsible for giving recommendations to the executive with regard to knowledge about the epidemic.
"A more or less controlled festive activity"
“The Scientific Council anticipates that the protection measures will be particularly well followed during the Christmas holidays.
(…) Our fellow citizens will be keen to spend this Christmas party 2021 in a more limited number, to be tested beforehand, to ensure that the oldest have received their booster dose ”, estimates the Council.
On the other hand, "for the New Year's festivities, the Scientific Council warns of the behavior of citizens which could be different with a more or less controlled festive activity".
He "would like an approach to avoid that on New Year's Day, a series of mini-clusters is set up at Omicron, which could rapidly disseminate in the days that follow throughout the country, given the population movements during this period, ”he added.
Saturday morning, at the same time as the publication of this notice, the Paris town hall announced the cancellation of the fireworks and concerts planned on the avenue des Champs-Élysées on the evening of the 31st. The virus contaminations are clearly on the rise in France since mid-November, to exceed the threshold of 50,000 new cases per day.
