This last day of February rhymes with the reduction of sanitary measures. As announced by the Ministry of Health at the beginning of the month, several restrictions are relaxed this Monday in the face of “the improvement of the health situation”, provided that you are vaccinated and have a valid vaccination pass.
The decline of the fifth wave carried by the Delta variant and then by its very contagious successor Omicron continues: 384 new hospital admissions were recorded on Sunday, against 712 the day before and 1,834 on Tuesday. As for the intensive care units, there were 59 admissions, against 62 the day before and 206 on Tuesday.
- Wearing a mask is no longer compulsory in places subject to the vaccination pass
It is no longer necessary to wear a mask to go to the cinema, the theater or even to a restaurant. Or all the places in which a vaccination pass is compulsory to enter. Nevertheless, a decree published on Saturday provides that if “circumstances justify it”, the wearing of a mask may again become compulsory by the prefect of the department.
Certain places remain affected by the obligation to wear a mask: public and long-term transport, in companies, in hospitals and in shops and supermarkets. “The vaccination pass allows us in a context where the epidemic pressure is greatly reduced, and as we have already done before this wave, to remove the obligation to wear a mask in establishments open to the public”, had indicated the minister. Health Olivier Véran.
- One test instead of three for contact cases
Persons in contact with an individual infected with Covid-19 no longer need to do three tests, now only one is necessary when they are vaccinated. The test must be done on D+2 after seeing the person infected with the virus.
Thus, pharmacies distribute from this Monday more than one test free of charge to contact case persons, according to a decree published on Saturday. On the other hand, the duration of isolation does not change: positive people with a full vaccination schedule and positive children under 12 years of age, regardless of their vaccination status, must strictly isolate themselves for seven full days after the date of onset of symptoms or the date of positive test, with the possibility of doing an antigen or PCR test on the fifth day. If the latter is negative, and in the absence of symptoms for 48 hours, it is possible to end the isolation at the end.
- Reduced entry for zone A
In view of this situation, the Minister of Education had announced a reduction in the health protocol at school. If zone B has already experienced this new formula, this Monday it is zone A’s turn to return to level 2 of the protocol, which was at level 3 before the holidays.
This means the end of mask-wearing in the playground in elementary schools and an easing of the rules for mixing pupils, who can now be more widely mixed with children of their level and no longer only of their class. The rules are also relaxed for tests: from this Monday, contact case students will no longer have to do three but only one after two days (D2), as for the rest of the population. Next week, zone C will also return under the new light protocol.
- Towards a new lifting of measures in mid-March?
Should we expect further easing in two weeks? The lifting of health measures in mid-March concerning the wearing of a mask and the vaccination pass depends on “two essential criteria”: the number of hospitalizations and the incidence rate of Covid-19, according to the Minister of Health Olivier Véran. “The choice of mid-March is not a random choice, it is based on the principle that no hospital is forced to deprogram care because of the Covid, which is not yet the case”, explained the minister, on the sidelines of a trip to Nice, on February 10.
The lifting of the measures “implies that the activity has resumed a routine rhythm, and that, I estimated it between 1000 and 2000 Covid patients in intensive care, it would be useless and excessive for me to give you a figure at the unit close,” said Olivier Véran.
On the other hand, “the virus must circulate as little as possible. However, the incidence rate almost halves every week, so in four weeks, if it continues on this dynamic, we will be back to a rate extremely weak allowing us to lift the last measures without taking the risk of igniting the epidemic”, he added.