The first exchanges were stormy at the Palais-Bourbon. The law project “now temporarily maintaining a monitoring and health safety system in the fight against Covid-19” has been examined in the National Assembly since Monday, July 11. The text must in particular establish the legal framework which will replace the state of health emergency from 1is august.
The debates were marked by the frontal opposition between the government on the one hand and the left and the extreme right on the other, in particular on the question of the reintegration of unvaccinated caregivers. Their return to work “is not on the agenda “due to the epidemic context, declared the Minister of Health, François Braun, raising boos on the benches of the left-wing coalition, the National Rally and certain deputies from overseas.
End of the health pass
If the text does not lift the suspension of healthcare personnel refractory to vaccination against Covid-19, it nevertheless marks the end of the state of health emergency, in force since October 17, 2020. This legal framework will end on October 31, 2020. next July, lively in fact the end of “health and vaccination pass in the daily life of the French”underlined François Braun.
The end of this exceptional regime will no longer allow the government to take certain coercive measures to fight the pandemic. In the event of a new peak of contamination, it will no longer be possible for the executive to control the movements of the French, to impose gauges in public places or to decree the obligation to wear a mask.
On the other hand, the text provides for the maintenance of a health pass at the borders until January 31, 2023 to prevent and slow down the appearance of new variants. The government thus reserves the possibility of re-establishing restrictions on entry into French territory. The extension of the pass to enter hospitals is not specified in the bill and could be the subject of specific decrees.
Collection of data
Second part of the text: data relating to Covid-19 screening tests can be collected and processed until January 31, 2023. The deadline was initially set for March 31, but the government does not have an absolute majority on the National Assembly, he complied with the demands of the Les Républicains group to have the bill passed.
Two files are affected by this extension: the SI-DEP file, which centralizes test results, their transmission and recovery certificates, as well as the Contact-Covid file which identifies and tracks infected people, as well as contact cases. These files are the subject every three months of a detailed report on the use of these databases presented to Parliament by the executive.