Coronavirus in France: 130 confirmed cases, twelve regions affected

Text by: RFI Follow

The coronavirus epidemic has infected 130 people in France since the end of January, said Sunday March 1 the Director General of Health.

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Twelve French regions are now affected by the coronavirus and three of them account for more than 10 cases. These are Ile-de-France, Auvergne Rhône-Alpes and Haus-de-France. Three cases have been recorded in Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy, two Caribbean islands which depend on Guadeloupe. A total of 130 people have been infected since the end of January, 30 more in 24 hours . Twelve are considered to be cured, two have died, 116 are hospitalized for reasons of isolation and nine are in a serious clinical situation, detailed this Sunday the Director General of Health Jérôme Salomon.

Of the 130 confirmed cases, 72 are part of a chain of transmission or a cluster (a focus of grouped cases, editor's note), 35 are returning from areas abroad where the virus is circulating, 23 recent ones are in the process of 'investigation, 7 were detected by the systematic test ' on people with acute respiratory distress syndrome, also said the number of the Ministry of Health. The two largest outbreaks of clustered cases are still in the Oise and La Balme in Haute-Savoie.

Coronavirus: the Director General of Health details the situation in France

" We are doing everything to slow evolution, slow the spread of the virus, protect areas that are not affected or little affected, reduce contact and population mixes in these areas, " said Jérôme Salomon.

Schools closed in nine municipalities

The government announced on Saturday February 29 a series of measures to reduce the risk of spread. Gatherings of more than 5,000 people in confined spaces have been banned, as have those in open spaces likely to bring together populations, some of whom would come from affected areas. The Paris half-marathon, scheduled for this Sunday, was thus canceled and the Salon de l'Agriculture cut short by one day.

In nine municipalities in Oise, the department with the highest number of cases, schools and extracurricular establishments will remain closed until March 14, inclusive. This concerns the establishments of Crépy-en-Valois - including a 60-year-old teacher from Jean de La Fontaine college is the first Frenchman contaminated by Covid-19 to have died - and of Vaumoise, where this man lived and was a municipal councilor . The measure also affects the small town of La Croix Saint-Ouen, near Compiègne, where the second inhabitant of Oise lives who has been diagnosed with the disease. The latter is currently hospitalized in Amiens in a "serious condition".

The other cities are Creil and the neighboring municipalities (Montataire, Nogent-sur-Oise, Villers-Saint-Paul) as well as Lamorlaye, bordering on Val d'Oise, and Lagny-le-Sec, bordering on Seine-et-Marne. The prefectural order issued this Sunday emphasizes that these nine municipalities " include biologically confirmed and potentially linked cases of people affected by the epidemic " and " must therefore be subject to specific restrictive measures ". Their residents were also invited from Saturday to limit their trips. Gatherings (markets, masses ...) are prohibited there.

Heurts en Martinique, the Louvre closed

In Martinique, the national road which adjoins Aimé-Césaire Lamentin airport was the scene of clashes on Saturday evening between the police and dozens of demonstrators who came to demand stricter health checks on all travelers arriving on the 'Isle.

Coronavirus: clashes erupt in Martinique

In Paris, the Louvre Museum remained closed this Sunday after its staff met in the morning to vote a right of withdrawal " almost unanimously ", according to the CGT. This right allows an employee to stop working because of "serious and imminent danger to his life or his health".

(With dispatches)

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• France
• coronavirus
• Health and Medicine

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