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VIDEO: What lockdown is like in a French chateau

Not everyone in France is confined to their homes and barred from meeting others during the country's ongoing lockdown. One group of young people are enjoying life together in a 16th-century chateau in Normandy. Video by Alex Dunham and AFP.

VIDEO: What lockdown is like in a French chateau
AFP

“The first lockdown was difficult because of the lack of social contact and the lack of activity… that's why I motivated myself to come here,” said Maxime a web developer.

He's one of the 30 or so young French artists who have taken up residence in Chateau Perché in rural Normandy during France's second strict lockdown, which was imposed at the end of October.

While most in France are confined to their homes, barred from socialising and only out for essential reasons, the 30-strong group of young folks are sharing the 16th-century chateau and its grounds to work, let their hair down and even find love.

“We are basking in bliss,” said one young man from a steaming hot tub. “There are such good vibes you don't know what to do with them.”

See for yourself in Alex Dunham's latest video for The Local with AFP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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HEALTH

France’s Covid-19 app to be ‘put to sleep’

France's Covid-tracker app, used for months for the all-important 'health pass' will be switched off today, health officials have confirmed.

France’s Covid-19 app to be 'put to sleep'

Covid-19 screening in France reaches an important milestone on Friday, June 30th, 2023 – when the TousAntiCovid app is officially ‘put to sleep’.

The app, which was launched in June 2020 as France came out of its first lockdown of the pandemic and has undergone a number of iterations, including as a delivery device for the health pass, will be switched off. 

For most people, this anniversary will pass without mention. Few people have consulted the app in recent months, and it has sat dormant on many smartphones since France’s Covid-19 health pass requirement was suspended in March 2022.

Meanwhile, the Système d’Informations de DEPistage (SI-DEP) interface – which has been informing people about their test results since the Spring of 2020 – is also being shut down on June 30th, as per legal requirements.

The SI-DEP shutdown means that it will also be impossible to retrieve Covid test certificates issued before June 30th, should the need arise. All data held by the database will be “destroyed”, officials have said.

It has handled more than 320 million antigen and PCR tests since it was introduced.

This does not mean that testing for Covid-19 has stopped, or is now unnecessary. As reported recently, more than 1,000 deaths a week in Europe are still caused by the virus.

The shutdown of the national information system does not mean that people in France cannot still book an appointment for an antigen test at a pharmacy, or a PCR test at a laboratory. But the number of people going for testing is declining rapidly. In recent days, according to Le Parisien, just 15,000 people in France took a Covid test – the lowest number, it said, since the pandemic started.

Reimbursement rules for testing changed on March 1st, with only certain categories of people – minors, those aged 65 and over, or immunosuppressed patients – covered for the entire cost of testing.

From Friday, only PCR test results will be transmitted to authorities for data purposes, meaning pharmacists that only offer antigen testing will be locked out of the online interface to record test results.

The reason for the shift in priorities is to maintain “minimal epidemiological surveillance”, the Ministry of Health has reportedly told scientists.

As a result test certificates, showing a positive or negative result, will no longer be issued from July 1st. Since February 1st, anyone taking a test has had to give consent to share their data in order to obtain a certificate. 

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