France enforces ‘work-from-home’ order to limit spread of Omicron

France is now requiring that all citizens who can work from home do so for at least three days a week in January.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex issued the declaration on Monday, the Associated Press reported. It is the second time during the pandemic that France has imposed the rule, which was previously done during the months of March and May in 2020.

"Research shows that work-from-home slows the spread of the virus, and doesn’t hamper productivity, but the discretion is often left to employers to let their workers do it — and many don’t give them the option," Business Insider reported.

However, many French citizens have jobs that cannot be performed remotely, as only 30 percent of the French working population worked from home during last year’s containment period. According to an August survey by Statista, a massive disparity exists between executives and blue collar employees: 61 percent of managers and senior professionals were able to work remotely, in contrast to 95 percent of blue-collar workers who had to either stop working or work in person.

Despite the shift towards clamping down on Omicron, early evidence from South Africa and Britain appear to suggest that the new variant is “milder” compared to previous variants, including the lethal Delta variant.

“It presents mild disease with symptoms being sore muscles and tiredness for a day or two not feeling well,” said South African Medical Association Chair Dr. Angelique Coetzee in an interview with The Telegraph. “So far, we have detected that those infected do not suffer the loss of taste or smell. They might have a slight cough. There are no prominent symptoms. Of those infected, some are currently being treated at home.”

Despite issuing a work-from-home mandate, France’s measures against the spread of Omicron are not as stringent as measures taken by the German government, which recently announced lockdowns for unvaccinated citizens. In Austria, the government has mandated the vaccine for all residents.