The government met this Sunday to study the measures to be taken after the first cases of coronavirus infection in France and the situation of French expatriates in the area of the epidemic in China.
Prime Minister Édouard Philippe gathered the ministers concerned in Matignon "to take stock of the situation on the coronavirus". The Ministers of Health, Agnès Buzyn, of the Interior, Christophe Castaner, the government spokesperson, Sibeth Ndiaye and the Secretary of State for Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari are expected.
Five other people under evaluation
The identification of three cases of this viral pneumonia on travelers recently returned from China, the epicenter of this new epidemic, raised fears of a possible spread of the virus in France. Two are hospitalized in Paris and the third in Bordeaux. All had recently arrived from China and had stayed in Wuhan, the big city where the infection first appeared in December.
This Sunday at the Grand Jury RTL-Le Figaro-LCI , Agnès Buzyn clarified that there were five other people "in evaluation this morning", whose services were to be able to give a diagnosis at the end of the day.
The Samu to contact
The coronavirus seems "very contagious but less serious than what we thought at the start," reassured the minister. "The more cases we discover and the more the Chinese communicate on the number of cases, the more we realize that in fact the mortality is much lower than what we feared at the beginning of the week". "On the other hand the contagiousness seems to increase".
The French health authorities have insisted in recent days on the effectiveness of treatment in the country, systematically reminding people who would be worried in the presence of symptoms (fever, cough or respiratory problems) after a trip to China or contact with someone returning from this country, to contact the Samu by the emergency telephone number 15 to benefit from an evaluation by a regulating doctor and avoid any possible contagion and not to go to the emergency room or to his doctor.
Measures taken for nationals in Wuhan
The Directorate General of Health (DGS) also announced on Saturday evening the establishment of a "reception medical team" at Roissy airport allowing the care of people who present symptoms of infection by coronaviruses.
This Sunday morning, Agnès Buzyn also indicated that the government should announce at the end of the meeting in Matignon measures concerning the French nationals present in Wuhan. "We are working today on a possibility of repatriation," said the minister to the Grand Jury RTL-Le Figaro-LCI, ensuring that "there will be decisions made during the day".
56 million people cut off from the world
French car group PSA announced Saturday that it will repatriate its expatriates and their families living in the Wuhan region. For its part, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs had indicated studying, in conjunction with the Chinese authorities, "the possible options that would allow our nationals who wish to leave the city of Wuhan", subject to strict traffic restrictions to avoid the spread of the virus.
Wuhan and its region have been de facto quarantined since Thursday to prevent a further spread of the disease. A total of 56 million people are cut off from the world. The toll in China amounted this Sunday to nearly 2,000 cases of contamination, including 56 fatal. In addition, the Chinese New Year festivities to be held on Sunday were canceled in Paris, after a similar decision in Bordeaux.
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