Macron allows himself "8 to 10 days" before easing off restrictions or not past the Winter break

After dozens of announcements everywhere, orders from health specialists and first drafts of plans, the government seems to let the latest measures announced by the Prime Minister to settle in. On January 29, Jean Castex surprised everyone announcing the country closes its borders to non-EU countries, as well as closes non-food shopping malls over 20,000sqm.

As a new Health Defense Council was held this Wednesday February 17, 2021, France Info reports the government does not consider new restrictions by the end of the Winter break. According to the news channel, the executive wishes to "let the French breathe" as the zones A and C are already on vacations and the zone B (Marseille, Lille, Strasbourg, Nantes) will be starting Saturday February 20.

Even though Dunkirk and Moselle have the health authorities worried because of the impressive surge in case toll, the number of new Covid-19 infections on a nationwide basis keeps on slowly decreasing. According to data collected by France Info, there is "no change" planned for the end of the new Council. Yet, the government remains cautious. "We are still in between" Matignon stated to France Info.

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What is left is what March has in store as some doctors fear a dramatic surge in cases because of variants. As for Pr. Arnaud Fontanet, he thinks there are two very tough months to come.

Covid: 50,000 daily cases by mid-March in France? Projections from Lille University Hospital
The UK Covid variant keeps on spreading across France. According to Scientific Committee member Pr. Fontanet, "if we go on this way" then the UK variant "will become dominant from circa March 1" in the country. Furthermore, hospitals are urged to move to "crisis organization". Lille University Hospital experts project likely boom in new cases by mid-March for the coming weeks. By March 20, there could be up to 50,000 new PCR+ cases per day. [Read more]

Despite the always-increasing spread of mutations in France, the epidemiologic situation seems to get stable in a "high plateau" and the "expected" hospitalization peak - following the outbreak of the new mutations - has not been reached yet, it seems. The French President therefore allows himself some time to follow the evolution of the epidemic before making new restrictive or eased measures.