Controversy continues on first day of France's health pass
Under the newly enacted health law, since August 9, the health pass regulation has been applied in restaurants, bars, shopping malls, train stations, and major ports across France and continues to cause many mixed opinions.
Four days after France's Constitutional Council approved a new health law, the expanded health pass will officially come into effect in France on Monday, August 9. Under the new law, French citizens over the age of 18 will have to present a health pass, either a paper version or a digital version with a QR code, certifying that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, or have tested negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus within 72 hours, or have a certificate of immunity after having had COVID-19, to be allowed to enter restaurants, bars, cultural establishments, large shopping malls or take long-distance flights and high-speed trains. Minors between the ages of 12 and 17 will have the application of this regulation postponed until September 30, 2021.
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Having caused a lot of controversy and division in France for over a month, demonstrated through protests attracting hundreds of thousands of participants every weekend, the health pass continues to attract many opposing opinions on the first day of its implementation.
Although French police officials said they would be lenient in the early days of implementation, mainly reminding residents and business owners rather than imposing fines, many still believe that this regulation will lead to businesses refusing to serve many customers during a difficult economic situation. In addition, the fact that some local police require residents to present their ID cards to compare with their health passes has also been criticized as being too rigid.
However, some French health experts are concerned that the French government's move to ease controls on health pass regulations, especially the recognition of 72-hour tests, could render the regulations ineffective.
“From a medical point of view, this is not a good approach, and we have to wait and see if it has any consequences, but to be honest, I am not happy because extending the testing period to 72 hours instead of just 48 hours will increase the risk, because within 3 days after the test, a person can be incubating and infected. The government wants to relax a bit, but it must be understood that, from the beginning, PCR testing is relatively safe, but not absolutely safe,” said Robert Sebbag, an infectious disease specialist at the Pitíe-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris.
In addition to concerns about the lack of compliance with the health pass regulations, French authorities are also concerned about the risk of many people using fake health passes, which are currently being sold widely on social networks, through criminal networks linked to some pharmacies.
To limit this risk, the French Ministry of the Interior on August 9 issued a series of warnings about the penalties for those who do not comply with the regulations as well as those who use fake health passes. Accordingly, those who are subject to inspection without a health pass will be fined 135 euros for the first violation, 1,500 euros for the second violation within 15 days and will be imprisoned for up to 6 months, along with a fine of 3,750 euros for the third violation.
The fines will be much higher for those using fake or someone else's health passes, with the maximum penalty being up to five years in prison and a fine of 375,000 euros./.
