Branville (France) (AFP)

Thirty French, from the area of ​​China most affected by the epidemic of the new coronavirus, will join a Calvados holiday center on Friday to be quarantined, after several waves of repatriation in the south of France.

The returnees, "probably 34", will be welcomed in this Pierre & Vacances village called "Normandy Garden", said the prefect of Calvados Philippe Court.

Seventy-seven out of 330 cottages were privatized for the occasion. A barrier has been installed between the privatized area and the part open to the public of this 12-hectare holiday village, in the heart of the Pays d'Auge about 15 km from Deauville and Cabourg.

"Here on site, for 14 days there will only be French nationals who are asymptomatic, whom we will monitor to see if they declare the slightest symptom, so that we can take care of them and hospitalize them", said underlined Christine Gardel, director of the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of Normandy.

Returnees must undergo a medical check-up before boarding the plane and then travel with a medical team responsible for detecting any symptoms during the flight. Travelers who report symptoms will be taken care of by the Samu 75 when they get off the plane, according to Ms. Gardel.

During their stay, the returnees will be followed by a medical team of thirteen people (doctors, nurses, pharmacists and psychologists). Twenty-five Civil Defense personnel will provide entry and exit and site security.

The temperature of these people will be monitored twice a day to spot the possible onset of the disease. "These are people who are not sick," insisted Professor Renaud Verdon, head of the infectious and tropical diseases unit at the CHU de Caen.

In case of symptoms, the returnee will be transferred to the Caen University Hospital and "put in solitary confinement. The patient will stay in the hospital sector for a minimum of 14 days," he said. "The university hospital has already organized for several weeks to be able to accommodate people who are suspected of being infected by Covid 19," added the doctor.

- "No access to the pool" -

Holidaymakers were present on Thursday in this holiday center with a capacity of 1,500 people, like Joanne and Julie, 33 and 34 years old, from the Val d'Oise, who did not say they were "not worried".

"As long as the returnees are confined and do not have access to the pool," Julie told AFP.

On the contrary, Audrey Guillain, 36, mother of two children of six, from Essonne, was to stay until Saturday but "will eventually leave sooner," she said.

The director of the center Florian Bellanger said he was "serene". "We are crowded, many of our clients are Parisians and are going to leave since it is the end of the holidays," he said, saying that he had been contacted by ARS on Wednesday evening.

"Of the 77 accommodation units selected for returnees, 50 were occupied and were redirected to other Pierre & Vacances sites," he said.

The center was chosen in particular for its comfort, its proximity to airports and a university hospital with a service of infectious and tropical diseases and because "Normandy is a beautiful region", said the prefect.

"A bucolic atmosphere, a green setting and a bit of a change of scenery", describes Pierre & Vacances on its website, evoking "the spirit of a traditional Norman village surrounded by nature for a rejuvenating stay".

Since the start of the epidemic, more than 300 people have been repatriated from China and placed in quarantine, in a holiday center in Carry-le-Rouet (Bouches-du-Rhône) and in the premises of the École nationale supérieure firefighting officers (Ensosp) in Aix-en-Provence. Most of them came out with the certainty that they were not infected with the new coronavirus.

The last 35 returnees who arrived on February 9 via London must leave Ensosp on February 23.

© 2020 AFP