Olivier Véran, the Minister of Health, proposed Tuesday, December 29, 2020 the extension of the curfew hours to the twenty departments where the virus circulates most actively. The politicians of the Grand Est believe that the measure is not up to par.
–
“We are going to propose an extension of the curfew, which instead of starting at 8:00 p.m., will start at 6:00 p.m. in all the territories in which it will prove necessary”, explained the Minister of Health last night on the set of 20h de France2.
All the Grand Est is concerned with the exception of Bas-Rhin and the Côte d’Or. Plus a few southern departments (Allier, Ardèche, Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-Maritimes).
The measure, proposed from January 2 and which will not be automatic but applied by department, will be ratified after consultation with local executives.
Shops will have to bring their closing times forward and there will be exemptions for high school students who return from classes and people who work, specifies the regional prefecture.
In these 20 departments, if the epidemic situation continues by January 1, then, after consultation with local elected officials, a curfew will be introduced at 6 p.m. This additional measure limiting the spread of the virus will come into effect on January 2. @ France2tv pic.twitter.com/JnLFpZjoCd
– Olivier Véran (@olivierveran) December 29, 2020
“We watch the train go by once again”, says the president of the Grand Est region in the press. Jean Rottner, who is also a doctor, pleaded for a short confinement and regrets that it is necessary to wait for the passage of the New Year to apply this curfew.
Just like the mayor of Nancy, who campaigned, with that of Reims, for rapid measures to stem the epidemic. Mathieu Klein spoke yesterday on social networks: “The curfew is a late measure, which may prove to be insufficient”.
Valérie Beausert-Leick, the president (PS) of the Departmental Council of Meurthe-et-Moselle, is skeptical: “ I have the impression that it’s more of a half measure, that it’s not really a choice. And I’m not at all sure that two extra hours of curfew is that relevant to stem this pandemic chain … the Government should have also relied on what has happened in other countries and ‘other cities that have been very heavily re-defined but in a localized and short-term fashion. “
Measurements “beside the plate” for the mayor of Metz
Discordant voice: the mayor LR of Metz who especially pointed out the harmful effects of a new confinement in recent days. The conclusion of François Grosdidier this morning is finally not so far from that of the other elected officials. “Bringing the curfew forward to 6 p.m. has no advantage and only drawbacks: It will not block the epidemic but will more certainly always condemn the same people, especially businesses and culture”, he says this Wednesday, December 30, 2020 on his Facebook account. He adds: “The epidemic is spreading today especially in the private sphere. This will be even more true on New Year’s Eve. There, the public authorities have no control. So, they activate inoperative levers to give the feeling of doing something when even.”
François Grosdidier especially asks that the most affected regions such as the Grand Est be given priority on vaccination.
Relief for traders
Traders fear total re-containment.
•
© Marion Lompageu / Francetv
–
For traders, this is not good news but it could have been a lot worse. Sébastien Duchowiscz, president of Vitrines de Nancy, feared total confinement. He is therefore rather relieved. “We will try to recommend that traders open between noon, to go non-stop between 10 am and 6 pm. Even earlier in certain sectors. We will also make a request to the Prefecture to open every Sunday in January”.
But he warns: “It would be inconceivable for us that we could be confined in ten days.”
A “continuous growth” of the epidemic
The prefect of the Grand Est Region and the Regional Health Agency held a press conference at the end of the morning. Josiane Chevalier urges “spend reasonable holidays” insisting that the evening of December 31 will be “under close surveillance”. She strikes: “the best way to respect the work of caregivers is to be reasonable”.
The Regional Health Agency recalls that nearly 12,000 new cases of Covid were recorded over a week in the Grand Est. For the large region, the incidence rate in the general population (new cases reported to the general population) is 200 against 126 at the national level. Virginie Cayré, the director general of the ARS, specified that the vaccination would begin on Monday in around thirty pilot sites in the Grand Est region. From January 11 and January 15, it will be extended to all nursing homes and long-term care units.
–
