Dominique Sorain, the High Commissioner of Polynesia -

RICHARD BOUHET / AFP

Polynesia, under curfew since October 24 to fight against the spread of Covid-19, extends this measure until January 15, Christmas and New Year's Eve included, announced Friday (Saturday Paris time), Dominique Sorain, the High Commissioner of Polynesia.

“We have taken the decision to maintain all the measures currently in force until January 15.

The curfew will therefore be maintained in Tahiti and Moorea from 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. and with the same limited travel conditions and closure of establishments open to the public, ”he said during a press briefing with the President of Polynesia. Edouard Fritch.

No late parties

But "given the still fragile health situation (...), it was not possible to take the risk of purely and simply suspending the curfew on Christmas 24 and December 31".

For those two evenings, “we decided to shift the curfew schedule by one hour.

So it will start at 10 p.m. instead of 9 p.m. ”, he said.

“These are two nights of festivities marked, in Polynesia, by numerous gatherings which are conducive to the circulation of the virus.

But we still wanted to make life easier for people who want to go to church in the early evening, to be able to return home after a small family dinner or after a dinner at a restaurant, ”explained the High Commissioner. .

Decrease in the number of cases but plateau

The number of active cases known in Polynesia is currently "close to 800", far from the 2,200 active cases recorded on average at the end of October-beginning of November.

In Tahiti and Moorea, the seven-day incidence rate "has decreased, but is still around 300 (per 100,000 people, editor's note), which remains high", the maximum alert threshold being set at 250 at the national level, underlined Dominique Sorain.

Twelve deaths are to be deplored over a week, bringing the number of deaths to 91 since the start of the epidemic, and 51 people are currently hospitalized, including 24 in intensive care.

The first doses of vaccine in early January

“The epidemic peak has passed.

The number of new contaminations is decreasing ", but" we nevertheless remain above the alert thresholds for Tahiti and Moorea ", insisted the High Commissioner, who evokes" a delicate situation, + on the wire + ", which obliges to "continue our efforts to take shelter from this virus which still infects between 150 and 200 people per day".

He also announced that the first doses of vaccine will be sent to French Polynesia in early January.

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  • Curfew

  • epidemic

  • Covid 19

  • Coronavirus

  • French Polynesia

  • Society