France is preparing for a possible "epidemic" of the new coronavirus, said Minister of Health Olivier Véran in an interview with Parisien Dimanche . Asked about the possibility of new cases in France, the minister considers it "very likely".
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"Of course it's serious"
"An epidemic? We are preparing for it," he adds, referring in particular to the increase in the "number of laboratories equipped with diagnostic tests to reach a capacity of several thousand analyzes per day and throughout the territory, against 400 today ". "We are also pursuing equipment in masks," he continues. He also said he had "gathered around sixty health decision makers on Tuesday because information sharing and feedback are essential".
"Of course it is serious, and we put ourselves in a situation. If the epidemic reaches Europe, I want us to be fully operational," said the minister, saying he was attentive to the situation in Italy, "where a patient died without being in China or in known contact with another patient. "
"We remain in maximum reach"
Concerning the last group of 28 French people repatriated Friday from China and placed in quarantine in a holiday village in Normandy, the minister underlines "that at this stage, nothing indicates that one of them is infected", but assures that "we remain on maximum alert". Only one patient remains hospitalized in France, said the minister, while a Chinese tourist died in Paris and ten other patients are cured.
Two people have died in Italy, the European country with the heaviest toll and where around 30 cases of contamination have been listed so far, including more than 25 in Lombardy, in the Milan region.