Carry-le-Rouet (France) (AFP)
The first returnees from China left aboard shuttles on Friday from the holiday center in the south of France where they were placed in quarantine, AFP journalists found.
In total, 181 people who were confined to Carry-le-Rouet (Bouches-du-Rhône), near Marseille, since January 31 and their return from Wuhan, epicenter of the epidemic of new coronavirus, must regain their freedom on Friday , some not to be contaminated.
They all received a "certificate of non-contagiousness," said Red Cross official Marc Zyltman. "They are people like you and me," he added.
Friday at 6.30 a.m., the first people to be confined were led by the Red Cross through the airlock at the exit from the containment center, a large white tent where they took off their masks and washed their hands with hydroalcoholic gel, 'one of the three AFP journalists themselves confined.
Some leave on their own, picked up by relatives, while others take place aboard shuttles to stations and airports, whose departures must be staggered in the morning.
All will be able to resume their lives freely, for the first time since their departure from Wuhan, in central China: among these returnees, the authorities have not reported any contamination with the virus causing Covid-19 disease. Health Minister Agnès Buzyn will meet with some of them in Carry-le-Rouet at midday.
After the departure of these 181 people on Friday, 44 remain confined to the same holiday center, and 113 others to Aix-en-Provence, in the premises of the National School of Firefighting 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 February 9 via London will have to wait until February 23.
The human toll of the epidemic in mainland China is now 63,851 confirmed cases and 1,380 deaths. Outside China, including the autonomous regions of Macau and Hong Kong, more than 500 cases and three deaths have been reported in around 30 countries and territories.
© 2020 AFP