Schools, colleges and high schools will close "from Monday" in French Polynesia due to the outbreak of Covid-19, announced the president of the archipelago Edouard Fritch, as part of a tightening of containment planned for two weeks .

"We have decided to limit as much as possible (...) the movement of the population in the most affected areas" and this for "two weeks from Monday", for its part said Friday (Saturday in Paris) the Haut- Commissioner Dominique Sorain, while the incidence rate reached 2,800 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in Polynesia, the highest rate in France.

A more meteoric epidemic

Polynesian students returned to school two weeks ago, but many schools and colleges have already closed after the virus spread among children or teachers.

The restrictions within the framework of "what it is customary to call confinement" will concern the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands, the most populous archipelagos of Polynesia where "the epidemic is the most dazzling, ”added Dominique Sorain.

Concretely "the prohibition of movement becomes, temporarily, the rule", with an obligation of attestation to justify a series of exemptions: going to work and being trained, being treated or vaccinated, assisting a vulnerable person, essential purchases ...

8 p.m. curfew

Non-essential goods shops, leisure activities, restaurants and bars "will have to cease their activity temporarily" and "leisure travel will be suspended temporarily," he added.

In addition, the curfew, which ran from 9:00 pm to 4:00 am, "will be brought forward to start at 8:00 pm throughout the territory of French Polynesia," added Dominique Sorain.

On the other hand, "confinement only on weekends is maintained on the islands concerned in the Tuamotu Gambier", and the Marquesas as the Austral Islands are not concerned, argued Dominique Sorain.

Regarding schools "we will close our primary and secondary schools, while ensuring the educational continuity of our children in primary and secondary, from Monday," said President Edouard Fritch.

40% of absent students

Indeed "the spread of the Delta virus within our schools over the last two days requires a strong reaction from us," he added, noting nearly 40% of student absenteeism in the region. primary and nearly 30% in secondary.

Already Friday morning, the assembly of French Polynesia voted for the vaccination obligation, in particular for caregivers and people in contact with vulnerable groups, as well as for patients with long illness.

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  • epidemic

  • French Polynesia

  • Covid 19

  • Coronavirus

  • Health