France’s government handles the COVID-19 situation better than any other EU country, Prime Minister Jean Castex said Thursday. As Le Monde has learned, preventive restrictions successful in controlling the epidemic, but new strains poses a real threat.
France PM Castex attended a high-level health defence council meeting, along with health minister Olivier Veran, interior minister Gerald Darmanin and other officials.
Over a year, France is keeping the covid pandemic under control even as the neighbours are struggling with a virulent second wave. Commenting on the current situation, Castex said that “we haven’t seen a new wave of magnitude.”
“Our level of incidence is certainly high but is still much lower than it was in October,” he said.
France’s PM praised the French population for their “great vigilance” since the Christmas holiday season which has enabled the nation to keep the epidemiological situation under control.
Last week, President Emmanuel Macron’s team ruled out lockdown measures, instead of intensifying a curfew, strengthening border control and closing entries and exits inside France for non-EU visitors.
In its efforts to stop the pandemic, the health ministry reported it will open appointments for 1.7 million people to receive their first covid-19 AstraZeneca injections, including health care workers, hospital staff and frontline workers.
So far, 1,687,026 people have been inoculated. By April, France plans to offer vaccination to those above 75 years of age and to people with serious comorbidities.
