Branville (France) (AFP)

Away from sight and the cameras, the 28 French returnees from China on Friday will stay in quarantine for 14 days in a holiday village in Branville (Calvados), to ensure that they are not contaminated by the new coronavirus.

These French nationals, who arrived Friday in Roissy, who show no symptoms of the disease, were welcomed at the Normandy Garden by the prefect of Calvados Philippe Court and the director general of the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of Normandy, Christine Gardel , as well as by twenty firefighters. No surgical mask was missing on the faces, according to photos posted on Twitter by the Calvados prefecture, access to the site having been prohibited to journalists.

Seventy-seven cottages out of a total of 330 were requisitioned Wednesday evening in the lower part of this 12-hectare holiday village with a capacity of 1,500 people, in the heart of the Pays d'Auge, at around 15 km from Deauville.

Several hundred meters of construction barriers were deployed Thursday afternoon between the privatized area and the part open to the public. Contacted by AFP, the Pierre et Vacances group, which operates the Normandy Garden, indicated that it had registered 36% cancellations, 55% modifications and 9% reservations reservations by customers who planned to stay these 14 in 24 hours. next days in the Normandy holiday center.

During their stay, the returnees will be followed by a medical team of thirteen people (doctors, nurses, pharmacists and psychologists). Twenty-five Civil Defense personnel will provide site security and monitor entrances and exits.

The temperature of these people will be monitored twice a day. If symptoms appear, the returnee will be transferred to the Caen University Hospital and "placed in solitary confinement".

- "united" -

At the Annébault bar-bakery, a few kilometers from the Normandy Garden, Liliane, 72, blonde hair, jeans and a puffer jacket, was scratching games Friday afternoon while drinking coffee. "I find that the place is not the best because there are vacationers. It is a shame for those who had rented, but it is normal that we are in solidarity with our compatriots", says cowardly she, confident "in the French health system".

By his side, Patrick, 60, an executive, put things into perspective. "The flu kills 10,000 people a year and we don't talk about it that much! They weren't going to put them at the hotel in the Gulf of Deauville," he joked.

A meeting for the attention of residents of Branville and the surrounding area is to be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.

In total, 28 French and 36 nationals of other countries of the European Union were repatriated this Friday, on a plane chartered by Paris and which landed at the end of the morning at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport .

The plane left Thursday from Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus epidemic in China. Non-French passengers were taken care of, upon arrival, by the authorities of their country, according to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This is the third repatriation flight organized by France since the start of the health crisis. Thanks to these three flights, more than 300 people have already been repatriated from China to France and placed in quarantine.

The Minister of Health Olivier Véran announced Friday that there was only one patient left in France for an infection with the disease, out of the four who were still on Tuesday.

© 2020 AFP