The French government plans to extend a health emergency imposed to fight the new coronavirus by two months and bring in new measures including a plan to quarantine certain people arriving in the country.
Once approved by lawmakers, the emergency period will last until July 24th, Health Minister Olivier Véran told a news conference.
As part of the planned measures, Veran said people entering France may have to remain confined for two weeks.
Entry into France is currently heavily restricted with an international travel certificate required for everyone crossing the border and only those who meet certain criteria allowed in.
“The compulsory quarantine will concern anyone entering the national territory, an overseas territory or Corsica,” said Véran.
Anyone arriving from abroad and infected with the virus would be obliged by law to be quarantined.
Will everyone will be quarantined?
Véran said people who are not symptomatic would be quarantined and those who develop symptoms and are diagnosed positive for coronavirus by a doctor will be put in isolation.
But will everyone, as the minister suggested, be forced into quarantine or isolation?
Véran himself mentioned the example of French nationals returning from abroad.
This would typically concern “French people who travelled abroad and who want to come home,” he said.
Given that most countries have been hit by the global Covid-19 pandemic that suggests everyone will be affected by the new rule.
However Interior Minister Cristophe Castaner later added that there would be exceptions for people who regularly cross the border such as frontalier workers and haulage drivers.
He said there were already provisions in place for people “who live close to the border or who live in France and travel regularly to another country for work”.
It was also not clear where people would be quarantined or isolated with the government planning to announce further details in the coming days, but the minister announced it would be financed “by state means”.
French media suggested people would be quarantined in hotels or medical centres.The condition of the length of quarantine, the place where people will be asked to stay, the health monitoring and restrictions on outings that apply to those quarantined will be specified in the coming days after the advice of the Scientific Council, said the minister. While the parliament is set to vote on the raft of emergency measures the practical aspects of the quarantine rule will be decided by decree. The total duration of isolation, whatever the situation, could never exceed 30 days, said Véran and people will have the right of appeal to a judge who must decide their case within 72 hours.
Infected people already in France will, however, not be forced to accept isolation and treatment, as “we trust French people’s sense of responsibility”, Veran said.
The government had initially announced a plan for everyone in France who test positive for Covid-19 to isolate for two weeks either at home or in special accommodation, and initial plans were to give local authorities the power to enforce quarantine.
However this was altered after protests over heavy-handedness, and now the quarantine will be something that people are only asked to do in order to protect the health of others.
“We are going to have to live with the virus for a while,” Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said after Saturday’s cabinet meeting deciding the extension.
“Learning to live with the virus, that’s what’s at stake in the coming months.”
