France: As cases soar, COVID-19 'health pass' comes into force for access to public places

France's Parliament has approved a law on Monday requiring special virus passes for all the restaurants in the country. According to the law, vaccinating all health workers is also mandatory, in order to curb the spread of the COVID pandemic in France. President Emmanuel Macron and his government needed to protect the population and hospitals as the cases are surging again in the country. In addition, Macron said that the aim behind this law is to avoid the new lockdowns in France. However, the law has prompted protests and political tensions.

Requirements of the new French law

The new French law requires all health workers to get vaccinated by September 15, 2021. Moreover, it also requires a 'health pass' to enter any restaurant, train, plane, and other public places in the country. In order to get a 'health pass', one needs to have a vaccination certificate, a recently tested COVID negative report, or recent recovery report.

France gets hit by the fourth wave of COVID

On July 21, French Prime Minister Jean Castex confirmed that the country is now in its fourth wave of COVID-19 due to rising Delta-variant cases. While speaking to TF1 news, Castex said that the 18,181 new cases recorded in the 24 hours represented a 140 percent jump on the previous week. He also claimed that 96 percent of these new infections were observed in unvaccinated people. 

PM Jean Castex said, “We are in the fourth wave,” Castex said, adding, “The infamous Delta variant is here, it is here, it is the majority (of cases) and what characterises it from those that preceded it is that it is much more contagious."

He added, "“We must react and at the same time, the key is known, it is not completely new but the contagiousness of this Delta variant obliges us even more, we must vaccinate."

Castex comments came as the COVID-19 health pass is being made mandatory to visit leisure and cultural venues. The people who want to visit stadiums, cinema halls, museums, or other cultural events will have to show proof of vaccination or immunity starting Wednesday, 21 July 2021. The health passport introduced by Emmanuel Macron's government is mandatory for all events with more than 50 people before it expands to restaurants and cafes in August. The pass will also be required on buses, trains, and planes.

The scheme was introduced to avoid another COVID-19 wave in France, where the infection cases have started to soar due to the highly transmissible Delta variant. French Health Minister Oliver Veran has warned that there is a sudden jump in COVID-19 cases in the country. "That means we increased the spread of the virus by about 150 percent last week, we've never seen that before," Veran told parliament as he started debating stricter regulations in order to encourage inoculation. Just after announcing the scheme, more than 1,00,000 people, holding anti-vaccination placards, protested against the scheme. Several Macron critics also accused that the scheme would discriminate against those who oppose vaccines.

(With AP/ANI inputs)

(IMAGE: AP/PIXABAY)