The watchword is simple: accelerate.
To cope with the highly contagious Omicron variant and the increasingly high levels of contamination, the government wants to move quickly.
Very quickly.
This Tuesday, the government spokesperson took the floor after an interview with the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, with the associations of local elected officials, to announce a boost in the measures to fight against the Covid-19.
"We are still breaking records in terms of incidence rate" with 537 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, he explained.
"The situation in the hospital is tense" with "more than 3,000 people in intensive care".
Advanced Council of Ministers
Faced with these worrying figures, the government wants to further accelerate the vaccination campaign, both in terms of booster doses and the first doses in those who have still not received any.
With this in mind, the executive wants to put in place the vaccination pass more quickly than expected, which will replace the health pass if Parliament gives its approval.
"We had planned to adopt this bill on January 5" for final adoption "before the end of January," recalls Gabriel Attal, referring to the announcements made by Jean Castex last Friday.
VIDEO.
"Only the vaccination will be valid in the past": the new announcements of Castex
But the schedule will finally be brought forward, as the Prime Minister announced this Tuesday morning to local elected officials.
"An extraordinary Council of Ministers will be held next Monday", December 27, during which the bill on the vaccination pass will be presented, explained Gabriel Attal.
"This will allow Parliament to examine this text next week, between Christmas and New Year's Day."
The government hopes to see the law adopted in Parliament "from the first half of January".
“We don't have a second to lose with the Omicron variant,” he argued.
More than one in three contamination linked to Omicron in Paris
Other information, unveiled by Gabriel Attal on Tuesday: the Omicron variant is progressing very quickly on the territory.
“This weekend, we estimated that 10% of the contaminations detected in our country were linked to the Omicron variant,” he recalled.
"We are probably beyond today," warned the government spokesperson.
Even much beyond in some regions.
"In Paris, more than one in three contamination seems to be linked" to the new variant "according to the screenings carried out on the tests every day", he unveiled.
Postpone the start of the school year?
A "last resort"
As since the start of the pandemic, the closure of schools is the last lever considered by the government.
The extension of school holidays beyond January 2 is therefore "a last resort".
An opinion shared "by various associations of elected officials", assures Gabriel Attal.
The will of the government is "to do everything to keep schools open as much as possible", he recalled.
Limit gatherings
"We have agreed on the need to limit gatherings as much as possible during this festive period and on New Year's Eve," said Gabriel Attal, highlighting a "duty of caution" shared with the associations of local elected officials met on Tuesday.
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To do this, "the Prime Minister has asked local elected officials to cancel the greeting ceremonies" scheduled throughout January, announced the government spokesperson.
Restrictions had already been announced for December 31, with the possibility, for the prefects, to ban wild gatherings, alcohol consumption on public roads, concerts and fireworks.
“The forecasts are worrying, we are entering a zone of turbulence,” warned Gabriel Attal, while concluding that we had “the weapons to fight”.
