A new Covid-19 defense council chaired by Macron on Monday – The HuffPost

Sarah Meyssonnier via Reuters

POLICY – Emmanuel Macron will hold a health defense council devoted to Covid-19 on Monday December 27, announced the Elysee this Friday, while an exceptional Council of Ministers is already scheduled for the same day to examine the bill which must transform the health pass into a vaccination pass.

The President of the Republic must participate by videoconference in the health defense council which is scheduled for 4:00 p.m., one hour before the Council of Ministers, said the Palace on December 24.

Could the government take further action in the face of to the Omicron variant? At the end of the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, government spokesman Gabriel Attal warned of an epidemic which “may set off again with a bang”. He had not announced new measures, but specified that a “regular reassessment” of the health situation would take place.

Absolute record of Covid-19 cases in 24 hours

Thursday, December 23, Public Health France announced more than 90,000 new positive cases in 24 hours, an absolute record since the start of the pandemic. Health Minister Olivier Véran said he expected “100,000 contaminations per day” to be exceeded “by the end of the month” of December.

The government has so far bet on the responsibility of the French, by encouraging them to vaccination and screening before family reunions, in small groups if possible. At the beginning of December, the government had made normal Christmas celebrations its goal.

But the concern is palpable around December 31 – where the festivities will be reduced anyway -, and while the pressure in hospitals is accelerating. “The hospital is in an extremely complicated situation, we are all preparing (…) to see something very strong unfold in front of us”, warned the Director General of Public Assistance – Paris Hospitals on Wednesday (AP-HP ) Martin Hirsch.

See also on Le HuffPost: For Christmas, take a test, urges Emmanuel Macron