No more derogatory work stoppages. According to a decree published on Saturday January 28 in Official newspaper, these stops, without a waiting day for people who test positive for Covid-19, will no longer be possible from February 1. The text “puts an end” to “the issuance of derogatory work stoppages to insured persons who are unable to continue working, including remotely”.
Created at the start of the health crisis, in 2020, “in order to limit the spread of the epidemic”, this system had been extended several times, most recently by the Social Security budget for 2023, which however provided for the end of this measure “at the latest” at the end of the year.
The government has therefore decided to bring forward the deadline, while the health situation has improved markedly since the start of 2023, with fewer than 16,000 patients currently hospitalized, compared to nearly 25,000 at the end of December. The number of contaminations has also dropped in a month, from more than 20,000 to less than 5,000 per day on average, according to the site. covid-tracker.
Changes on February 1
In this “favorable epidemic context”, the Directorate General of Health (DGS) announced in a press release “several developments” also taking effect on February 1. Thus, “systematic isolation” of positive cases and “carrying out a test” after two days for their contacts “will no longer be required”. Little applied in practice, these precautions nevertheless remain “strongly recommended”
In addition, the recording of positive test results in the SI-DEP computer file will now be “conditioned on the prior collection of the consent of the persons concerned”, until the end of this epidemic monitoring tool, planned for time at the end of June. The monitoring of “contact cases”, via the “Covid contact” service managed by Health Insurance, will cease definitively on Wednesday, even if its workforce had already been greatly reduced, from 6,500 full-time equivalents in 2021 to 350 in September according to the Court of Auditors.