Paris (AFP)

A LR deputy from Haut-Rhin is infected with coronavirus and hospitalized in "intensive care", an employee of the National Assembly is also infected and another case is "suspect", announced the presidency of the Assembly Thursday evening.

According to the newspaper L'Alsace, it is the deputy Jean-Luc Reitzer, hospitalized in serious condition in Mulhouse. The infected employee worked him "at the refreshment stand of the deputies" and "is confined to his home". The suspect case works in the restaurant of deputies and "is hospitalized," said the National Assembly.

"All parliamentarians and staff have been informed of the situation this (Thursday) evening as well as of the action to be taken. The MEPs' refreshment bar and the restaurant at 101 rue de l'Université will be closed tomorrow," added this press release.

In a message sent to parliamentarians and which AFP was able to consult, the president of the Assembly Richard Ferrand explains that "the deputies or the staff" with whom the deputy "was in close contact in the National Assembly during the week from February 24 to 28 were warned of this (Thursday) evening ".

This Alsatian elected official was present at questions to the government on Tuesday 25 February and in the foreign affairs committee on Wednesday 26, but absent this week at the Palais Bourbon, according to parliamentary sources.

According to L'Alsace, the 68-year-old MP had recently taken part in a parliamentary trip abroad.

The Mulhouse area is also one of the centers of coronavirus in France. Several dozen cases of infection were disseminated in the country from an evangelical gathering organized in Mulhouse in February and bringing together around 2,000 people.

The employee of the Assembly infected "is contagious since March 3" and was "on duty at the bar on March 4," writes Richard Ferrand to deputies. "He was briefly hospitalized and tested positive for coronavirus. He is currently confined to his home."

Finally, the suspect case, a waiter at the deputy's restaurant, has been hospitalized since Thursday evening.

"People who visited the refreshment bar on March 4, or the restaurant on March 4 and 5, must comply with the instructions given by the health authorities", such as "temperature control twice a day", the "restriction of social life ", and" vigilance and strict observation of + health + barriers ", continues Richard Ferrand in his letter.

In total, "in France, today at 4:00 p.m., 423 confirmed cases are 138 cases more than yesterday", announced the Director General of Health Jérôme Salomon during his daily press briefing on Thursday. "We now have seven people dead, six men and one woman," he added.

Among the sick, 23 are in serious condition and hospitalized in intensive care, eight more than the day before, said Jérôme Salomon.

This assessment shows the largest increase in a day since the start of the crisis.

© 2020 AFP