He had not loaded the first, but will do so for the second… Jean Castex announced this Monday morning on Franceinfo a new version of the StopCovid application on October 22.
On September 24, on the set of the show “Vous ont la parole” of France 2, the Prime Minister admitted that he had not downloaded the app yet promoted by the government to fight against the spread of the coronavirus.
The StopCovid application, released in June, should allow its users to be warned if they have recently passed, less than a meter and for more than 15 minutes, another user who has been found to be infected with SARS -CoV-2.
But very criticized from its release, some fearing that it represents a first step towards a surveillance company, it is a failure. StopCovid, in its current form, has been installed more than 2.6 million times, significantly fewer than the UK and German apps, which were downloaded 16 and 18 million times respectively.
“We are in a strong second wave”
“The government, the President of the Republic, have asked to work on a new version which will be officially launched on October 22 and therefore at that time I will download it,” said Jean Castex.
In what looks like a slip of the tongue, the Prime Minister spoke of the name “TéléCovid”. This shouldn’t be the name of the new version, but it should be renamed. “To embody a new dynamic”, confides the entourage of the Secretary of State in charge of digital.
Cédric O admitted last week before the Senate that the current application was working “badly”. A new company is due to replace the French CapGemini at the end of October, who until then worked for free as a project manager. It will be designated through a call for tenders procedure, and the monthly ceiling for expenses related to the application will increase, from € 100,000 today to “probably around € 200,000,” said Cédric O.
Jean Castex acknowledged on Monday that France was “in a second strong wave”. “The reality of the second wave is here. I call for all of us to mobilize, there can no longer be any relaxation ”, he repeated.
“Avoid people who clump together”
The Prime Minister assured that the consequences of a generalized confinement “would be dramatic”. “Generalized re-containment must be avoided, it is possible”, he insisted, “asking” to limit the number of people received at home.
“We must avoid by any means people who congregate, who do not wear a mask, in closed places. There is really nothing new: I ask that we respect barrier gestures in public space and in the private sphere ”.
“Decisions for the most vulnerable”
Finally, due to the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, Jean Castex explained that the “government will announce the decisions it takes for the most vulnerable” on Saturday, the National Day for the fight against poverty. “For young people we are putting in place exceptional tools to prevent them from suffering from the crisis,” he explained.
While the associations are notably asking for an increase in the main social minima (RSA, AAH for the disabled and ASPA for the elderly), as well as the opening of the RSA to young people, the Prime Minister closed the door to this measure. will not vary on one point, it is that all that is RSA, that is to say that which gives allowances relating to a state of poverty, are not in our priorities ”, declared Jean Castex.
VIDEO. Jean Castex: “Generalized reconfinement must be avoided”
But, according to him, what the government wants “is to boost all the integration mechanisms that take people out of this state to lead them to training, to employment, and therefore give them additional remuneration thanks to that” , he justified.
Regarding the tourism sector hit hard and which is the subject this Monday of an interministerial committee, the head of government assured that “the partial activity would be renewed at least until the end of 2020, ditto for exemptions from social contributions ”.
Original article by : www.leparisien.fr
