D.he French Prime Minister Jean Castex went into quarantine on Tuesday after a positive PCR test result. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and four other Belgian ministers also have to isolate themselves as contact persons after meeting with Castex on Monday morning.
Self-isolation also affects French Defense Minister Florence Parly, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti and European Secretary of State Clément Beaune. The latter had a photo from Monday deleted, on which he can be seen without a mask at the Prime Minister’s side. Castex is doing well, he only has a slight cough and his schedule is being revised, it said.
His Covid-19 illness has rekindled the debate in France about “sham safety” through full vaccination. Castex was double-vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. Vaccination opponents such as right-wing populist Florian Philippot referred to a TV interview by the Prime Minister on July 21, when he asked his compatriots to be vaccinated. “The vaccination works. Analyzes show that whoever is double vaccinated has no risk of getting sick, ”said Castex four months ago. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, he allegedly became infected with his youngest, eleven-year-old daughter, who tested positive on Sunday.
Protests on the Caribbean islands
For the Prime Minister, the disease comes at the worst possible time. On the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, which belong to France, opponents of vaccination are going on the barricades. The situation in Guadeloupe is particularly tense. The nightly protests have gotten out of hand. For the most part, they assume that the unemployed are young people who cannot find a job due to the crisis in the tourism industry. The government has sent special police units to the island, but so far has not taken the social dimension of the protests into account.
Actually, Castex wanted to meet with politicians from the island, the discussions had to be conducted via video transmission. The government fears that the riots in Guadeloupe could give vaccination opponents a new boost on the mainland. The government has planned to launch a campaign to encourage people to respect protective measures such as wearing a mask and distance rules in the next few days.
Now Castex is under fire for shaking hands with mayors from the Hauts-de-France region in northern France, a stronghold of Marine Le Pen, without a mask. Recordings of the encounter were critically commented on in the digital networks of vaccination opponents. In France, the number of corona infections has increased exponentially. “The fifth wave started in a flash,” said the government spokesman. The incidence value is approaching the 200 mark.
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