Sanitary pass, confinement and curfew can no longer be restored. The text provides for the possibility of requiring a negative covid test for travelers coming from abroad, and overseas, in the event of a particularly dangerous variant.
Le Monde with AFP
It may not be the end of the COVVI-19 epidemic, but it is the end of “exceptional diets” to face it. Parliament adopted definitively, Tuesday, July 26, by a final vote of the Senate, a bill which explicitly ends the 1 er August in the health pass and to other measures against the COVVI-19 , but which provides for the possibility of a compulsory test at the borders.
First bill validated under the new legislature, this text was voted one last time on Monday by the National Assembly, in its version resulting from the Senate, then approved in a mixed committee including deputies and senators. He bears the mark of the new parliamentary configuration, which obliges the government to seek agreements beyond the presidential majority, in particular with the Republicans, the first group of the Senate.
“This text is a necessary shield in the face of an epidemic of COVID-19 which has not yet said its last word,” said the Minister of Health, François Braun. He is “the result of a method” which “responds to two key words: dialogue and compromise without compromise,” he said. “In the event of a health crisis in the future, if the government needs exceptional powers, it will have to negotiate them one by one with the Parliament,” said the rapporteur of the text in the Senate, Philippe Bas (the Republicans).
- End of the health pass, confinement or curfew
The text formally repeals, as of 1 er August, the part of the public health code relating to the state of health emergency as well as the regime for the management of the health crisis, which marks the return to ordinary law. The constraint measures of daily life provided for by these regimes – health pass, obligation to port the mask, confinement, curfew … – can no longer be restored.
- A certificate for travelers coming from abroad and for overseas
The bill distinguishes two scenarios, for which the government will be able, until March 31, 2023, require people over 12 years old the presentation of a negative covid test. This will be the only proof accepted: neither vaccination certificate nor proof of recovery will be valid.
For international trips and in the event of a dangerous variant in a country, likely to constitute a serious health threat, the government may impose this travel health certificate before boarding on the plane for the French territory. The same provision may apply for travelers from the overseas territories, always in the event of a dangerous variant.
In order for ultramarine territories, the same possibility is planned, this time in the event of the risk of saturation of the hospital. Local executives and parliamentarians elected in the community concerned must however be consulted.
- SI-DEP and COVID CONTACTS
The National Screening Information System (SI-DEP), which centralizes all test results, is extended until June 30, 2023, so that the French can easily access the certificates allowing them to travel in Europe. COVID contact, which monitors and support for infected people and their contact cases, is extended until January 31, 2023.
- Reintegration of caregivers not vaccinated according to a new HAS review
The observation according to which the health situation no longer justifies the vaccination obligation will be carried out by the High Authority for Health (HAS), which may self -risk or be seized by the Minister of Health, the Committee for Control and COVID-19 connection or by the social affairs commissions of the National Assembly or the Senate. For the time being, the HAS has spoken against the reintegration of non -vaccinated caregivers.