COVID LAW. This Monday, July 25, 2022, the health bill was passed in the National Assembly. The latter should also be approved by the Senate in the coming hours. What are the new measures? The detail.
[Mis à jour le 25 juillet 2022 à 22h18] This is a small victory for the government: the health bill has just been adopted by the National Assembly this Monday, July 25. The text voted by 184 votes against 149 was however largely revised by the Senate, in particular article 2, central point of the health policy with the establishment of the health pass at the borders which became after amendment the possibility of requesting a compulsory PCR test. at the borders in the event of a dangerous variant. The reintegration of unvaccinated caregivers, another subject of disputes between parliamentarians, has been put on hold. The text specifies that it will be possible as soon as there is no longer any “medical reason” to require compulsory vaccination. One way to agree with the opinion of the High Health Authority (HAS) which spoke out on Friday against the return of unvaccinated caregivers to hospitals. The return of all caregivers will therefore be decided “immediately” as soon as the HAS recommends the measure. A decision in accordance with the government’s position which wishes to rely on scientific advice on this issue.
It is thanks to the votes of the deputies of the majority joined by the ways of the LR deputies, who were able to impose their ideas during the joint joint committee, that the bill was able to pass the first stage of adoption in the Assembly. . The right welcomed the compromises made by the majority while La France insoumise remained firmly opposed to the bill. The parliamentary group promises to seize the Constitutional Council in the coming days.
The new Covid law must still pass through the hands of the Senate before coming into force. The text has just been voted by the lower house and is already on its way to the upper house, which is due to give its opinion in the next few hours. The Senate should adopt without difficulty the text which it has itself amended by Tuesday, July 26.
What can we learn from this law?
This law includes a significant reduction in most of the devices used to fight the virus. This new law “on monitoring and health safety in the fight against Covid-19“is not binding, since the government does not intend to put in place drastic measures and put for the time being on the incentive lever. François Braun, the Minister of Health, had moreover confirmed it in the columns from Parisianfavoring the civility of the population: “I want to make our fellow citizens understand that it is important to protect themselves against the virus, but we are not going to redo a law every time there is a wave. We must succeed to adjust our behavior when viral circulation resumes. We will have other waves, scientists tell us. Afterwards, if a new dangerous variant appears…”
In this new bill, which should also make it possible to extend some measures put in place during the health crisis, parliamentarians have protected the maintenance of the SI-Dep database, which lists the test results for Covid-19. This text also leaves the possibility of re-establishing checks, with virological testing, before entering France. Finally, if the High Authority for Health gives its agreement, unvaccinated caregivers could be reinstated in their posts – but this eventuality should not occur in the next few weeks.
What does the new Covid bill provide?
The new draft law on “monitoring and health security in the fight against Covid-19“was validated by parliamentarians on Thursday July 21, 2022 and voted by the National Assembly on Monday July 25. Only the Senate stage remains, which must deliver its opinion between July 25 and 26, passed so that the health law be definitively adopted. The deputies had already voted on a first draft of the text on the night of July 12 to 13, after tumultuous debates. This included an article providing for the end of the state of emergency as well as the extension of the collection and computer processing of screening and contact case data: this collection will be authorized until January 31, 2023 (compared to March 31, 2023, the date initially provided for by the government text) if the law is definitively adopted. These two points were validated by the joint committee.
Will a border health pass be required?
The article which provided for the possible establishment of a “border pass”, a sort of health pass at national borders, was rejected by a large part of the deputies of the left, the National Rally and the Republicans. The senators, however, voted for the government the possibility of reestablishing a virological test control on entry into the national territory. In its retouched version, the bill establishes a special system: for foreign travelers entering France, a negative test could be required in the event of the appearance of a new variant deemed dangerous. The possibility of a control for people coming from the DOM-TOMs has also been added, it could be introduced if there is a “risk of saturation” of the overseas health system. The text does not provide for any need to present a document justifying a vaccination or Covid recovery to enter France.
The joint joint committee validated this senatorial version, with one exception: in its new version, the bill restores the possibility of requiring a PCR test for minors over 12 at the borders, as well as for travel between Overseas and France.
Any news on wearing a mask?
The bill does not provide for any return of the mask or any new vaccination obligation. At present, nothing has been definitively recorded, but the new health law should not change on this point, wearing a mask should simply be highly recommended in closed spaces and in places with strong mixing, without any constraint.
What does the end of the state of health emergency mean?
The new Covid law will ratify a decision to which the vast majority of parliamentarians consent: the state of health emergency, voted on March 23, 2020, will end on July 31, 2022, after multiple extensions. This particular situation allowed the government to take exceptional measures concerning the restriction of freedom of movement, in particular confinements and curfews, or even the establishment of a health or vaccination pass. With the end of this state of health emergency, the government will have a reduced field of possibilities to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic: it will no longer be able, for example, to make it compulsory to wear a mask in public spaces, or even decree maximum gauges in certain places.
Will unvaccinated caregivers be reinstated?
Suspended in 2021 because they refused to be vaccinated against Covid-19, around 15,000 caregivers still cannot exercise. In the National Assembly, the deputies of France insubordinate and the National Rally supported their reinstatement, pointing to the staffing deficiencies of the public hospital. On this very sensitive point, the senators have changed the bill, entrusting the decision to the High Health Authority (a point validated by the joint joint committee): as soon as this body decides in favor of their reinstatement , unvaccinated caregivers will be “immediately” back to their posts.
Remember that the government has a line on this point: trust the scientific authorities. The Academy of Medicine has already expressed its opposition to the reinstatement of suspended health personnel, pointing out their irresponsibility in this regard in the face of the risks they would allow their patients to take. And on Friday July 22, HAS returned an opinion “in favor of maintaining the obligation to vaccinate against Covid-19 for personnel working in health and medico-social establishments”. The body does not give this precision, without any timetable: “These recommendations will be updated according to new data available”.