Carry-le-Rouet (France) (AFP)

They fled the epicenter of the new coronavirus epidemic, then spent two weeks in quarantine upon their arrival in France: the first 181 returnees from Wuhan, China, must regain complete freedom on Friday, with the certainty of not being contaminated.

Thursday evening, in the holiday center where they were confined by the sea, in Carry-le-Rouet, about thirty kilometers from Marseille, these returnees organized a small ceremony to thank the medical and civil security teams as well than the center staff members who accompanied them.

With one of them on the keyboard, and another on the guitar, all gathered outside to sing a song written on the basis of the title "Aline" by Christophe, noted the three AFP journalists themselves confined since their return from Wuhan (central China). "We are going to shout, shout, + thank you + for all your help", intoned the returnees.

"The white tent that serves as an airlock will be the door to your freedom," said one of the civil security officials. "We lived a great adventure together, a great moment of solidarity," said Marc Zyltman, head of the Red Cross on the site.

Among these returnees who returned to France on January 31, the authorities did not report any contamination with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19 disease. And Friday, for the first time since they left Wuhan, taken in charge by the French authorities, these 181 people will finally be able to try to freely resume the course of their lives. Health Minister Agnès Buzyn will meet with some of them in Carry-le-Rouet at midday.

- First departures at 07:00 -

Departures of the first shuttles for stations and airports are scheduled from 07:00. Those who wish will leave on their own, for example if relatives come to pick them up.

French for the most part, some confined to family or with their foreign spouse, they are divided between relief and fear of a "leap into the unknown".

For Agathe Serres, installed in Wuhan for three and a half years to do a thesis and repatriated to France in disaster "with just a few clothes" during the Chinese New Year, this exit from quarantine is like a life to rebuild under the sign of uncertainty.

"There is a little bit of anxiety about how it will happen", confides to AFP the young woman, today de facto without university, but with, already, in sight of a radical change: the back to his parents. "When it's vacation for two weeks it's fine, but that's not going to be the case," sighs the student.

Also leaving in haste from Wuhan with a few things, Vincent Lemarié is in doubt as to a potential return to the city where he had been teaching French for six years: "I would like to go back but not in the current circumstances".

- French classes -

During the quarantine period, Mr. Lemarié gave two hours of his time every day to teach non-French-speaking returnees the basics of the Molière language, helping, among others, to establish a semblance of life daily in the center, where wearing a mask was compulsory in common areas.

After the departure of these 181 people on Friday, 44 will still be confined to the same holiday center, and 113 others in Aix-en-Provence, in the premises of the National School of Fire Brigade Officers (Ensosp).

Some of them arrived on a second flight on February 2, and their quarantine should end on Sunday. The 35 people who arrived on a third flight on February 9 via London will have to wait until February 23.

The adoption by the Chinese authorities of a new definition of the cases of infection jumped Thursday the human toll of the epidemic in mainland China. There are more than 64,600 confirmed cases and at least 1,483 deaths on Friday morning.

Outside China, including the autonomous regions of Macao and Hong Kong, more than 500 cases of contamination have been confirmed in around 30 countries and territories, where three deaths have been recorded.

© 2020 AFP