The terms of a third confinement could approach those of the second, in November.
A confinement during which schools and colleges remained completely open.
Only high schools had been authorized to set up half-groups of students, a situation that continues.
Read also:
Covid-19: would it be useful to close schools?
If confinement seems inevitable according to several medical voices, restrictions similar to those of November
"would make it possible to make a compromise between the health need and the needs of an economic life",
estimated Sunday Karine Lacombe, head of the infectious diseases department at the Parisian hospital Saint-Antoine, to the “Grand Jury RTL-Le Figaro-LCI”.
In particular, she wants to keep schools open,
"for the well-being of children".
SEE ALSO - "The confinement appears irremediable", warns Karine Lacombe
"The confinement appears irremediable", alert Karine Lacombe - Watch on Figaro Live
This maintenance of open schools has been defended by the Ministry of Education for months.
“The situation allows school continuity.
But we are vigilant, ”
assured Jean-Michel Blanquer to the
JDD
newspaper
this weekend.
“All our work consists in avoiding this hypothesis of a closure, even if it remains conceivable in the event of absolute necessity.
School remains essential for our children
.
"
The Minister recalls that the strategy adopted in November is all the more his preference because it “
worked
”.
If France remains on a high epidemic plateau, its health situation is for the moment less perilous than that of several of its European neighbors.
Admittedly, 371 classes were closed on Friday in France because of the virus, a figure that has increased compared to the previous week, but similar to those in November during which a large number of contaminations had been recorded.
However, for the minister, the situation does not require that schools be closed, any more in the fall than today.
Teachers strike Tuesday
He will have to deal with his teachers' unions who are preparing a strike on Tuesday.
If the latter do not go so far as to demand a closure, they regularly criticize the
"
shortcomings
"
of the health protocol.
The Snuipp-FSU, for example, asks for priority access to vaccination for National Education staff, a massive campaign of tests in schools to quickly isolate positive cases, and equipment in single-use surgical masks.
And more stringent contact isolation instructions.
Read also:
Masks, fixed places, gel: in a school canteen under reinforced protocol
If a closure of schools is not wanted by the Rue de Grenelle because of the obviously deleterious consequences for the students, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire would also prefer not to touch it.
A confinement which requires the closure of so-called non-essential businesses, without affecting schools, represents around 9 to 10 billion in aid to be paid per month.
But the bill could double if schools close, like last spring.
Who says schools closed, says partial unemployment for some of the parents.
And businesses and utilities that are idling.
A nightmare scenario for the government.
