The French junior industry minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher in Paris on October 18, 2021.
ERIC PIERMONT | AFP | Getty Images
French Industry Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher said on Friday the government is “very cautiously” watching Europe’s latest wave of Covid-19 infections and is urging citizens to get vaccinated to ensure that stricter measures are not required.
It comes at a time when many countries in Europe are imposing stricter public health restrictions to deal with a surge in Covid infections.
On the previous Friday, Austria became the first country in Western Europe to impose a complete national lockdown this autumn.
The World Health Organization has once again recognized Europe as “at the epicenter” of the coronavirus pandemic, with the region accounting for the vast majority of new cases and deaths in recent weeks.
“The situation seems, and as you can see, to be a little better than in Austria and than in Germany. Maybe it’s because we got quite a high vaccination rate, ”Pannier-Runacher told Karen. by CNBC Tso on Friday.
“We have some strict control over the sanitary situation, but of course we will be following this closely in the coming days,” she added.
France recorded 20,366 Covid infections on Thursday and registered more than 20,000 new daily infections for the second straight day as the latest wave of the epidemic picks up pace.
Around 69% of the French population are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. That is slightly higher than the vaccination rates in Austria and Germany, but well behind countries like Spain and Portugal.
A French government spokesman said earlier this week that there were no additional measures on the agenda, adding that the focus would be on vaccine intake to limit the number of people hospitalized.
“Please get vaccinated”
When asked whether the economic blow of another lockdown was comparable to Europe’s first wave of Covid infections last year, Pannier-Runacher replied: “I don’t think so, because we now know how to organize ourselves.”
“But this would not be good news to be able to take higher control measures. So we are pushing people to get vaccinated and that will be my core message: please get vaccinated,” she said.
“This is the only weapon we have against this virus today, and it seems quite effective, even if not perfect.”
The Austrian government said on Friday it would implement lockdown measures for an initial 10-day period from Monday and warned that the measures could remain in force for up to 20 days. Unvaccinated people in the country are already prohibited from leaving their homes for non-essential purposes.
Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said the government plans to make Covid vaccination mandatory for the entire population by February next year, adding that this is necessary to prevent another wave of infections.
Austria recorded 15,145 new Covid cases on Thursday, setting another record high for daily positive tests. Hospital stays, deaths and the number of Covid patients in the intensive care unit are also rising rapidly.
Around 65% of the Austrian population are fully vaccinated against the virus, which Schallenberg previously described as “shamefully low”.
Around 68% of the German population are now fully vaccinated. Both countries have one of the lowest vaccination rates in Western Europe.
Germany reported more than 65,000 new cases Thursday, with health officials warning the true number of cases could be two or three times as high. Chancellor Angela Merkel said earlier this week that the latest wave of Covid is hitting the country with “full force”.
– CNBC’s Chloe Taylor contributed to this report.
