LIVE - Coronavirus: global rush for rapid tests

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The coronavirus pandemic continues to progress in France.

The number of new positive cases recorded a usual decline for a Monday, due to the closure of laboratories on Sunday, but the rate of positivity continues to increase as the number of deaths stands at 31,808 in the territory.

In Marseille, restaurants and bars closed their doors on Sunday evening, for 15 days, in accordance with the new regulations in force.

In large cities, drinking establishments (bars and bistros with only an IV license, in particular) have remained closed since Monday between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. 

Globally, the pandemic has claimed more than one million lives worldwide.

The development of rapid, so-called antigenic tests to detect Covid-19 has triggered a global rush.

Similar to pregnancy tests, their result is obtained in 15 minutes.

Follow the evolution of the situation live. 

The main information to remember:

• In France, the total toll of the epidemic stands at 31,808 dead

• Bars and restaurants closed in Marseille on Sunday, Parisian bars have been closed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. since Monday

• The pandemic has killed more than a million people worldwide

The rate of positive tests increases slightly 

The number of new positive cases of coronavirus recorded its traditional decline on Monday (4,070 new cases in 24 hours), which is explained by the closure of laboratories on Sunday.

But the positivity rate continues to rise steadily, according to figures from Public Health France.

The percentage of infected people among those tested is 7.5%, after 7.4% Sunday and 7.2% Saturday.

81 people have died in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths in France to 31,808.

Over the last seven days, 4,069 new hospitalizations have been recorded, including 780 serious cases in intensive care.

In large cities, bars close at 10 p.m. 

Drinking establishments (bars, bistros having only an IV license) must now remain closed in Paris and in the inner suburbs from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., until Sunday 11 October inclusive.

This measure "does not concern restaurants with a large catering license, which may remain open, provided they comply with a strict health protocol", specifies the prefecture.

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This early closure of bars will apply in the eleven cities placed in enhanced alert zones: Bordeaux, Lyon, Nice, Toulouse, Saint-Étienne, Rennes, Rouen, Grenoble, Montpellier, as well as Paris and its inner suburbs.

And she does not spare the refreshment bar of the National Assembly, also forced to close its doors at 10 pm.

In Marseille, bars and restaurants now closed

Bars and restaurants closed Sunday in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille.

The government had announced the entry into force on Saturday evening of this measure, strongly contested locally.

Local elected officials finally obtained a postponement of one day after a meeting with the Minister of Health Olivier Véran.

These closures do not affect the 90 other municipalities in the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis.

15% of severe forms are explained by a genetic predisposition

According to the work of a Franco-American team from the Imagine Institute in Paris and Rockefeller University in New York, 15% of severe forms are explained by a genetic predisposition.

These would include genetic and immune abnormalities.

The researchers started from this hypothesis, already made in the past, to then establish the genetic identity card of 1,700 patients around the world.

If this work is accurate, it could make it possible to detect people at risk for severe disease upstream.

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Montreal and Quebec go on "red alert" for 28 days

The Premier of Quebec announced on Monday new restrictions for the regions of Montreal and Quebec which go to the highest level of alert for 28 days, while cases of coronavirus have climbed sharply in this province.

Quebecers are called upon not to receive guests at their homes.

Bars, restaurants, cinemas, museums and libraries in particular will be closed from October 1 to 28 in three regions, including the metropolis Montreal and the capital Quebec, which have passed the red alert threshold.

In Spain, Madrid has extended travel restrictions to new areas: since Monday, they concern 167,000 additional people, who can only leave their neighborhood to go to work, go to the doctor or take the children to school.

More than a million inhabitants of the Madrid region are now affected. 

Global rush for rapid testing

The development of rapid tests to detect Covid-19 has triggered a global rush: Donald Trump has announced the distribution of 150 million in the United States and the WHO has promised 120 million to poor countries, but on condition of finding the funds.

Many public health experts have been campaigning for months for the use of these so-called antigenic tests, inexpensive, comparable to pregnancy tests and whose results are obtained in 15 minutes, against several days for a classic test.

While generally less accurate, these rapid tests may be more than sufficient, especially during a peak of contagiousness, when it is crucial to isolate positive cases.

They would thus make it possible to multiply the volume of tests in order to better detect the spread of the coronavirus.

The pandemic has killed more than a million people worldwide

The Covid-19 pandemic which started in late 2019 in China before spreading around the world has killed more than a million people, according to an AFP count established on Monday from official data.

More than 33.1 million cases have been officially diagnosed since the start of the epidemic, of which at least 22.7 million are now considered cured.

The United States (nearly 205,000 dead), Brazil (nearly 142,000), India (nearly 100,000) and Mexico (more than 76,000) alone account for more than half of the deaths recorded in the world.

"A million is a terrible number", declared Friday the director of emergency situations of the World Health Organization (WHO), Michael Ryan, estimating a doubling "very likely".

The outlook is bleak, indeed, with a curve that starts to rise again in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, reinforcing fears of a second wave.