Despair in France as country enters fourth Covid wave

As new cases rise to an average of 7,000 per day, a new law to put pressure on the unvaccinated will be debated

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  A woman brandishes a placard reading 'Freedom, I write your name' during a demonstration against new coronavirus safety measures called for by the French government in Nantes, western France.

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  Visitors take a selfie as they visit the Eiffel Tower. The landmark reopened to visitors on July 16, nine months after it was forced to close by the pandemic.

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  A municipality worker cleans debris from a burnt Covid-19 vaccination center in Urrugne, south-western France. The centre was the target of an arson attack.

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  A health worker takes a nasal swab for a PCR test from a man in southern France.

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  Performers wear white masks during a demonstration against new coronavirus safety measures in Nantes, western France.

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  Travellers arrive from France on a Eurostar train at St Pancras International railway station in London.

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  A man receives a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in Perpignan, southern France.

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  Anti-vaccine protesters march in Strasbourg, France.

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  People wait to receive a dose of a vaccine in Perpignan, southern France.

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  Large crowds gather as they demonstrate against new coronavirus safety measures in Nantes, western France.

France is entering a fourth wave of Covid-19, driven by the highly contagious Delta variant attacking unvaccinated people.

A law intended to put pressure on people to get vaccinated was drafted on Monday and will be debated on Tuesday. It is expected to be raced into law by the end of the week.

“We have entered the fourth wave of the epidemic,” government spokesman Gabriel Attal said. “We are observing a faster wave with a steeper curve than before. It can go up very fast and very high.”

As new cases rise to an average of 7,000 a day, nine out of 10 are linked to the Delta mutation, Health Minister Olivier Veran said.

“It is more contagious. We knew it but we see it every day. If we had not had the vaccine, with the Delta variant, we would not be talking about a wave [but] a tsunami,” he said.

The UK has singled out France for special restrictions because of concerns over a different mutation — the Beta variant.

France is the only country on Britain’s amber list where vaccinated UK travellers cannot visit without facing quarantine on their return.

More than 100,000 people marched across France on Saturday to protest against President Emmanuel Macron's plans for extending the health pass.

Health workers prepare syringes containing a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Perpignan, southern France. AFP

The bill being raced through parliament significantly extends the health pass system that requires people to produce evidence of vaccination, or that they have recently recovered from the virus or had a negative test, when they visit public places such as restaurants, bars or shopping centres.

The health pass will be needed for entry into a wide array of venues, as well as for long-distance train travel and flights.

The new law will also require people who test positive to self-isolate for 10 days, and vaccination will become mandatory for health workers in August.

Businesses will face fines starting at €4,500 ($5,307) for not checking health passes.

A day has not been set for when France hopes to starting enforcing the law, but Mr Attal indicated there would need to be a “run-in period” of a between a week and a month.