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HEALTH-VIRUS-FRANCE-ELDERLY
France rapped for Covid ban on outings from care homes
PARIS, March 4, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – France’s top administrative court has
struck down the government’s advice to care homes not to allow residents out
because of the risk of Covid-19, saying that “forced confinement” could harm
their mental health.
In a ruling published late Wednesday, the Council of State said the
months-long ban on all outings was “disproportionate” and suspended the
measure with immediate effect.
Responding to a complaint lodged by a resident’s family the council said
prolonged confinement could “alter they physical and psychological state of
many residents, as numerous studies have shown.”
It noted that most care-home residents had already been vaccinated against
the virus and were therefore not at risk.
By March 1, 82 percent of people in retirement homes had received their
first jab and 57 percent had received a second.
The minister in charge of the elderly, Brigitte Bourguignon, said the
government had “taken note” of the ruling and would consult with residents’
families as well as legal and medical experts on a new set of
recommendations.
At the outset of the pandemic last year, France, like many countries,
banned care-home residents receiving visitors. It later rescinded the ban
after it was widely slammed as inhumane.
BSS/AFP/IJ/1812 hrs