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France can 'turn the page' on Covid crisis by November, says health minister

James Harrington
James Harrington - [email protected]
France can 'turn the page' on Covid crisis by November, says health minister
French Health Minister Olivier Veran visits the crisis unit of the Regional health agency (Agence Regional de Sante - ARS) of the Ile-de-France, on April 27, 2021, in Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris, as France faces a third wave of infections to the Covid-19. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)

France can expect to 'turn the page' on the Covid crisis by the end of the year, according to Health Minister Olivier Véran.

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"We must remain cautious, but not live in fear," he said in an interview on radio station LCI, as he outlined the government's path out of the health crisis on the day that France's cafe terraces reopened - under strict health conditions - for the first time in six months.

READ ALSO: IN PICTURES: French people (and politicians) head back to café terraces

In that, he echoed President Emmanuel Macron's cautious optimism. "If we manage to organise collectively, to continue to vaccinate, to maintain a collective discipline of citizens, there is no reason that we cannot continue to move forward," Macron said, urging the French to "remain cautious", even as Covid cases across the country fall steadily.

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But Véran added: "I think that in November or December, if there were no new variants ... because we will have sufficiently vaccinated we can consider that the epidemic is behind us.

"If things go well, then there we can turn the page on Covid-19."

The number of Covid-19 hospitalisations is at its lowest level since October 2020, with 22,058 patients being treated across France on Tuesday, May 18th. Of those,  4,015 patients were in intensive care, according to Santé publique France. 

"We will remain very vigilant this summer," Véran said. "We must be sure that vaccination protects us in the long term. We are all, on the planet, in the same boat. 

"I am optimistic about the conditions of this reopening. We will see next autumn and winter, if there are further waves or new variants."

READ ALSO: France’s Fête de la musique ‘will go ahead, with masks and a curfew’

He warned, too, that moving out of lockdown to a more normal life cannot happen overnight.

"We must go gradually. We must limit the risks, be careful with our social contacts, continue to wear masks when required, wash our hands."

READ ALSO: IN DETAIL: France’s 4-step reopening from Covid restrictions

Véran had previously said he "sincerely hopes" wearing masks outside would no longer be necessary this summer - and repeated his upbeat message, but added a note of short-term caution. 

"The local authorities have the right to impose, or relax, rules on wearing masks outside," he said.

"I hope that we will be able to offer French people the option of no longer being obliged to wear a mask. But be careful: this does not mean that there will be no need for masks everywhere outside, in a crowd for example."

And he welcomed the take-up of vaccines that have prompted the fall in cases of Covid-19.

"A few months ago, at best 40 percent of French people wanted to be vaccinated," he said. 

"We had counted on 60 percent of the French population by age group. We wanted to go up to 70 percent, we're going to get 80 percent. 

"The French don't believe without having seen, they have doubts - that's our collective strength. But they do what they need to do to be protected."

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Anonymous 2021/05/19 19:17
Fully vaccinated people should be allowed without mask inside and outside! But no the baby sitting continues. And than to realise that they are still vaccinating at snail speed compaired to other countries. The old and weak are vaccinated, so that's it. Nooooo just spread more fear about variants, so what? that's what virussen do, they can not make unlimited new variants. Masks outside were always stupid unless extreme crowded places, so now we have to be happy they take away a silly rule in the first place. I have the feeling people get fed up, I see more and more noses above masks!

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