Castex announcements: containment reviewed and corrected for the "third wave"

Neither loosening nor generalized placing under a bell.

To slow down the “third wave”, boosted by the emergence of variants, Emmanuel Macron decided, at the end of an intense week of all-out consultations.

Ile-de-France, Hauts-de-France, but also the departments of Alpes-Maritimes, Eure and Seine-Maritime will be from this Friday midnight subject, and for four weeks, to a confinement seven days a week. A measure which, according to Bruno Le Maire, should cost 1.2 billion euros more per month.

“The situation is deteriorating.

Our responsibility now is that it does not escape us ", justifies Prime Minister Jean Castex, during his press conference, considering that the confinement on weekends" is insufficient ".

To avoid knowing again the social and educational impact of closing classes, schools will remain open.

A request that was unanimous in the political class.

A choice "that we intend to preserve as long as possible", prided the head of government.

Only essential shops will remain open.

The high schools will adopt half-gauges to limit the flow of students.

And the famous certificate, certainly remodeled, is making a comeback.

Outdoor activities will be authorized within a radius of 10 km.

Difference in size compared to the two previous confinements, they will no longer be limited in time.

"Being outside is pretty good," the head of state had slipped on Wednesday evening, during a videoconference with elected officials, whose words leaked on France Bleu.

There is much less risk.

As for the curfew, it will be extended to 7 p.m. throughout the country, so as to take into account the upcoming change to summer time.

It is a question, advances Castex, of “braking without locking up”.

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To prevent the inhabitants of the areas concerned from going green in preserved regions, by distilling the virus with them in the process, interregional travel will however be prohibited from these areas.

Except for compelling or professional reasons.

Wednesday evening, during his exchange with elected officials, the president seemed to subscribe to the idea of ​​a specificity of "Ile-de-France life".

"We have people who come home very late every evening", and therefore "we cannot reconfine them from Friday evening to Sunday evening, because there it is a life which is impossible", he said. said then.

However, these new measures are ultimately uniform for the territories affected by this new turn of the screw.

"We can not give the impression of an inequity between Paris, Ile-de-France, and other territories", recently raised an adviser to the executive.

Lively debates during the Defense Council on Wednesday

On the health response side, the vaccination campaign resumed after several days of hesitation.

In the wake of the reassuring opinion of the European health authorities, the government is giving a new go for the AstraZeneca serum, after having suspended its use on Monday.

After these recent controversies, it will now be necessary to restore confidence… This is why Jean Castex wanted to let it be known that he would be vaccinated himself with this Friday afternoon.

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AstraZeneca: "I will be vaccinated tomorrow", announces Castex

This confinement, a new version, was the subject of a painful gestation.

Wednesday's Defense Council was the scene of heated debate.

These last 24 hours of a "fight" and "clashes between ministers" as rarely seen, we testify within the executive.

The head of state, he was careful not to reveal his choices.

"He needs to mix things up, to consult, to send probes", comments a minister.

And this, until the day of Thursday.

"He still spoke twice with resuscitators in 24 hours, the messages that were passed to him were quite clear," continues the same.

On the one hand, the health emergency.

On the other hand, the morale, and even the mental health, of the French and the acceptability of the measures too.

Territorial rather than national restrictions, open schools, facilitation of outdoor trips… Jean Castex insisted that the government had taken “into account what the epidemic has taught us”.

A point raised by some during the Defense Council.

At the heart of this reflection, an anniversary: ​​that of the first confinement, which tormented more than one within the executive.

“What is terrible is that we are getting to that date and we have to take action again.

We must not let people think that this is going backwards and that nothing has changed for a year, ”blows a government adviser.

The fact remains that when the executive tightens the screw again, the opposition will not fail to point out that Emmanuel Macron's bet, at the end of January, has reached its limits.