Paris (AFP)
France was seeking on Saturday to "contain" a possible spread of coronavirus infection after the identification of three cases on travelers recently returned from China, the epicenter of this new epidemic.
Health authorities announced Friday evening that three cases had been confirmed, on a patient hospitalized in Bordeaux and two others in Paris, stressing that these were the "first European cases".
The three patients were hospitalized in isolation. All had recently returned from China and the two Parisian patients are "close relatives," said the Ministry of Health.
"It is necessary to treat an epidemic as one treats a fire, very quickly to locate the source" and "to circumscribe it as quickly as possible", underlined Friday evening the Minister for Health Agnès Buzyn by announcing the first two cases, noting that the period incubation was probably "around 7 days, between 2 and 12 days".
"An in-depth epidemiological investigation into these cases was immediately implemented. All of the people who have been in close contact with these patients are being counted. They will receive specific instructions from the health authorities to avoid contact, to limit the spread of the virus, "said the ministry.
He was hospitalized on Thursday in Bordeaux, after presenting to SOS-Doctors with cough and fever. Contrary to initial reports, it did not pass through the Netherlands, according to the ministry.
The course of the two patients hospitalized in Paris was not immediately known, except that they had also recently returned from China and had stayed in Wuhan.
The ministry reiterated, in particular for "people who have stayed in China recently", the precautions to be taken in case of symptoms, fever and cough or breathing difficulties: contact the Samu (15) by reporting the symptoms and recent stay in China and do not go to your doctor or to the emergency room, to avoid any potential contamination.
- Indignation and mockery -
The concomitance with the winter epidemic of influenza can in particular make fear an influx of worried people in the emergency services, already overloaded and in full social conflict.
Buzyn said Friday evening that if France was the first European country to identify cases, it was "probably because we developed the test (screening) very quickly and that we are able to identify them" .
And the minister reiterated that it was not possible to control the "multiple routes" from China or to "close the borders".
Unlike other countries, France has in fact not implemented border control measures for passengers coming from China, with temperature control.
A decision much criticized on Saturday on social networks, where the mere presence of posters at airports aroused indignation or mockery.
The epidemic, which appeared in China in the city of Wuhan, is rapidly spreading in its country of origin, with 1,300 cases of contamination including 41 fatalities identified on Saturday.
The Chinese authorities are seeking to regain control, in particular by restricting movement. Wuhan and practically the entire surrounding province of Hubei were thus cut off from the world, with more than 56 million inhabitants confined.
Several Asian countries have identified cases, two have also been confirmed in the United States.
© 2020 AFP