190 people gathered in a town in Orne for a spiritual retreat at the end of October.

The first cases of coronavirus appeared a few days later.

This cluster raises fears of an epidemic outbreak in the region, similar to that which occurred in the Grand Est.

In February, a gathering of the Evangelical Church in Mulhouse was at the origin of the first cluster identified in France.

According to the Ministry of Health, this was the tipping point of the coronavirus epidemic in the Grand Est.

This time, it is another gathering organized by the Catholic community of Emmanuel, between October 22 and 25, which seems to be at the origin of a new cluster, in Orne.

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190 people for three days in a sanctuary

The religious gathering took place at La Chapelle-Montligeon in the department of Orne, in the middle of the All Saints holidays.

190 people gathered for three days in the sanctuary located in this small village of 500 inhabitants.

Outstanding questions

At that time, the country was certainly not yet reconfined but the holding of a religious gathering in the midst of a pandemic raises questions.

The management of the basilica affirms that there was no need for authorization from the Prefecture to organize this seminar and ensures that the sanitary instructions were respected.

In addition to authorization, health monitoring is also involved.

Just days after the rally, the first cases of Covid-19 were detected among the participants. 

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However, according to the newspaper

Ouest France

, neither the Regional Health Agency nor the Primary Health Insurance Fund have been alerted.

The two health authorities were therefore unable to set up the tracing provided for in the protocol.

While the participants from the Great West have all returned home, at this stage it is therefore impossible to know precisely how many positive cases are to be deplored.