France wants to avoid a lockdown and closing schools would be the last thing

Government French will do everything possible to avoid another confinement with the new wave that is coming over with the omicron variant, according to the Minister of Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, who insisted that if there are new restrictions “the school is the last thing to close ”.

In an interview with the BFMTV channel, Blanquer stressed this Sunday when asked about the possibility of closing schools that “it is not the privileged hypothesis”, although all the options “are on the table.”

The school holidays in France started this Saturday and students are due to return to class on January 3. But some epidemiologists and political leaders, such as the candidate for the Elysee of the conservative party Los Republicanos, Valérie Pécresse, ask that the activity in the classrooms not resume at least a week later, given the risk that this multiplies the infections.

The minister recalled that since the beginning of the crisis there has been pressure to suspend face-to-face classes and that he has resisted “as much as possible those pressures” with the idea that “the school is the last thing to close.”

In his view, France has been a model in the world precisely for having kept them running like nowhere else since the first wave of coronavirus was overcome in spring 2020.

Beyond the issue of schools, when asked if France will be able to prevent a new confinement like the one that began this Sunday in the Netherlands, Blanquer said that “everything possible will be done to avoid it.”

His message, like that of the rest of the members of the Executive, is that the pressure has to be directed at those who are not yet vaccinated to do so, because with their attitude they are restricting the freedom of others: 10% (not vaccinated) assume their responsibilities ”, he says.

Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Friday that in January a bill will be brought to Parliament to transform the health certificate, which proves to have been vaccinated, to have overcome the covid less than six months ago or to have a negative test, in certificate of vaccination.

This will mean that those who are not vaccinated and are tested to validate it will not be able to continue using it. That will prevent them, for example, from going to a bar, a restaurant, a cinema, a show or a stadium, since since summer it is mandatory in France.

The possibility of imposing this vaccination certificate on those who use long-distance transport (buses, trains or planes) is also being considered.

Another clue that the Government is considering is to impose the health certificate (with the possibility of resorting to tests) for all workers in companies and public administrations.