The Minister of Health warned of a “more intense circulation of the virus” in France where 79,852 new cases were detected on Thursday.
Faced with the rise in Covid-19 cases, the Minister of Health called on Thursday, June 23, after her second booster dose, for the intensification of the vaccination campaign and the “civic responsibility“, excluding “for the moment» binding measures.
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“We are attentive. There is a more intense circulation of the virus in European countries, therefore also in France“, under the effect of”a variant, BA.5, which is highly transmissible but whose symptoms are less severe than those of historical variants“, declared Brigitte Bourguignon in front of the press. 79,852 new cases have been detected in the past 24 hours, according to Public Health France.
Vaccination, “the most useful weapon”
After receiving a second booster dose in a pharmacy in the 7th arrondissement, the still 64-year-old minister called for “intensify vaccination», «the most useful weapon», for people eligible for this second booster, mainly those over 60 and the immunocompromised. A quarter of eligible people received their second booster shot against Covid, a rate “clearly insufficient“, had indicated Tuesday the government, which calls on the oldest to receive the injection “as soon as possible“, while a “moderate epidemic recoverybegins. Brigitte Bourguignon also recalled a “other weapon“anti-Covid,”antiviral treatments», inviting the people concerned to «contact their doctor, their pharmacist“.
Asked about a possible return to health measures, such as the obligation to wear a mask in transport, the minister judged that at this stage, “the current measures are enough if everyone gets involved“. She urged “civic responsibility (…) to avoid additional hospital tension“. “We test ourselves as soon as we have symptoms, we isolate ourselves if we are positive, and we keep the mask possibly in places where there is too much proximity“, also recommended this former deputy from Pas-de-Calais, beaten in the legislative elections. Several voices, including that, in a personal capacity, of theMr vaccineof the government, Alain Fisher, have pleaded in recent days for a return of the mask in public transport.
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On the government side, said Brigitte Bourguignon, “the idea is not to return to more restrictive measures for the moment“. “But we are monitoring the situation every day to take other measures if necessary.“. If it is necessary “for example consider a return of the mask in transport (…) we do not prohibit anything“, said government spokeswoman Olivia Grégoire earlier in the day, assuring that the executive “would seize the health authorities (…) if this question were to arise in the coming weeks“.
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