Five new cases of coronavirus confirmed in France

Text by: RFI Follow

Five new cases "without sign of severity" of coronavirus - 4 adults and one child - have been confirmed in France, said this Saturday, February 8, the Minister of Health. This is a British national, returning from Singapore, who, while staying in Haute-Savoie, contaminated four other people.

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These new cases push the number of infected people in France to eleven. Five Britons, who were staying in a chalet in Haute-Savoie, were infected with the coronavirus , said Health Minister Agnès Buzyn on Saturday 8 February. Four adults and a child are sick, but their health shows " no sign of seriousness, " said the minister.

The five patients were infected by a British national who had returned from a trip to Singapore and who was staying in the same chalet as them. In total, 11 people, including people from the chalet and other " close contacts ", were hospitalized in establishments in Lyon, Saint-Etienne and Grenoble. The Briton who caused the contamination returned to the United Kingdom.

The contamination took place in the form of a " cluster " , said the authorities. It is a group of people contaminated by an " initial case ".

An open investigation

According to Etienne Jacquet, the mayor of the commune of Contamines-Montjoie, where the contamination took place, " The ARS (regional health agency) has had the chalets disinfected and is responsible for finding all contact cases " . A toll-free number and a " crisis unit " have been set up, in particular to reassure tourists during this school holiday period.

For their part, the French and Singaporean health authorities have opened an investigation to determine the origin of the contamination and to check if other people could be infected. For now, investigators are interested in a business meeting that took place in a hotel in Singapore. " 94 foreigners " were present, according to Professor Jérôme Salomon, Director General of Health.

( with AFP )

► Also read: The 2019 coronavirus-nCoV in 7 points

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