The French government is tightening restrictions to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The announcement comes after the country registered over 100,000 new cases on Saturday – the highest daily figure in France since the beginning of the pandemic.
The so-called health passport is being replaced with a vaccine passport. The new vaccine passport requires that the person is fully vaccinated, so it is not enough to show a negative test result as before, according to Prime Minister Jean Castex.
The government has also decided to make it mandatory to wear face masks outdoors in city centers, and will order companies to introduce at least three working days at home per week for employees who can work remotely. In addition, cafes and bars will only be allowed to serve seated guests, and the number of visitors will be limited to a maximum of 2,000 people at indoor events and 5,000 at outdoor events.
”I know it feels like a never-ending movie, but a year ago we started our vaccination campaign and now we are one of the best vaccinated and best protected populations in the world,” Castex said at a press conference after a government meeting.
However, the government will not postpone the start of the school term for the country on January 3, a measure requested by around 50 doctors and healthcare workers in an open letter published over the weekend.
France, with its 67 million inhabitants, has so far registered just over 123,000 corona-related deaths. Around 72 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, according to figures from the EU's infectious disease control agency ECDC.
Source: TT
