The "English" variant now accounts for 20 per cent of new cases in France
Credit: THOMAS SAMSON/AFP
France has tightened the screws on its "test, trace and isolate" strategy in a bid to stem the rise of more contagious coronavirus variants with the “English” mutation now accounting for 20 per cent of new cases, according to a top expert.
In new measures announced on Sunday, Jérôme Salomon, head of France’s top health body, DGS, issued a new directive which obliges anyone who tests positive — whether via a lateral flow or PRC test — to take a RT-PCR test within 36 hours to check for variants.
The four-page missive also announced an increase in the number of days a person must self-isolate if they test positive with a variant from seven to 10 days. After that time, the person can only come out of isolation after taking a PCR test and confirming it is negative.
In schools, which are still open in France — although with half-classes at secondary level — establishments must shut down if one pupil or teacher tests positive for a variant, but also if a member of a pupil’s family does so.
All contact cases must take an RT-PCR test the day they are identified, the note stipulates.
Any patient who tests positive with a variant and contact cases considered high-risk can receive home help from a nurse and will be “systematically offered specific housing,” it adds.
France has balked against imposing another national lockdown despite scientists warning it may be the only way to avoid a third wave
Credit: REUTERS
France reported a fall in new Covid infections on Sunday for the fourth successive day. Health ministry data showed there had been 19,175 new confirmed COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours compared with 20,586 the previous day.
But the data also showed the number of patients being treated in hospital for the disease had risen to 27,694 from 27,369 the previous day, following a four-day decline. The number of Covid patients in intensive care also rose, increasing to 3,272 from 3,225 the day before.
The government has resisted calls for a third nationwide lockdown from health experts who fear that more contagious coronavirus variants could soon overwhelm hospitals.
The government hopes to curb high contamination rates through an evening curfew and tougher rules on foreign travel. On Sunday, it said that a ban on non-essential travel to and from destinations outside the European Union had halved air passenger numbers in a week.
But doctors are particularly concerned about rising cases of a coronavirus variant first detected in Britain.
The variant could represent a majority of new cases from the beginning of March, Arnaud Fontanet, an epidemiologist and member of the government’s advisory body on COVID-19, told newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. The proportion currently stands at around 20 per cent.
On Monday, a secondary school in Eaubonne, north of Paris, was temporarily closed after cases of the South African variant were detected and local authorities said they was starting a track-and-trace campaign.
French health minister Olivier Véran sought to boost confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine on Monday as he received a dose in front of TV cameras near Paris.
"I continue to recommend vaccination by the AstraZeneca vaccine, which protects against 99 percent of the viruses that are present in our country," he said from a hospital in the town of Melun.
France’s death toll now stands at 78,965.
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