"There is a time when, we all know (...) an epidemic is inexorable anyway" in France, said Emmanuel Macron, Thursday, March 5, at the Élysée. The transition from phase 2, currently underway, to phase 3 - which will impose more restrictive restrictions - will take place "between a few days and one or two weeks", said Professor Jean-François Delfraissy, specialist in diseases infectious who participated in the meeting of specialists.
>> Read also: the 4 stages of the prevention plan in France
At stage 2, collective restrictions, decided last weekend - and in particular prohibiting the gatherings of more than 5,000 people in an enclosed environment - were confirmed in a decree published on Thursday. Phase 3, when decreed, will involve, among other things: suspension of public transportation, restriction of school gatherings and closings, a set of measures that will have a significant impact on daily life.
The government has already requisitioned the stocks and production of protective masks and intends to control the inflation of the prices of hydroalcoholic gels, suggesting to producers 3 euros per 100 ml.
In doctors' surgeries, for the moment, doctors are adapting: in Crac'h, a municipality with 3,400 inhabitants in the Gulf of Morbihan, the general practitioner of the town Christian Morigny receives potentially contaminated patients "outside of the usual working hours. consultation "so that they do not meet other patients. Another multiplies teleconsultations.
Seven dead in France
France is one of the main centers of the virus in Europe, along with Italy and Germany. In total, 423 people were infected on the territory, including 138 new confirmed cases and three new deaths reported, which bring the total death toll to seven, said Thursday evening Jérôme Salomon, director general of Health. Among the sick, 23 are in serious condition and hospitalized in intensive care, eight more than the day before, he said.
This is the largest increase in cases and deaths in a day since the onset of the crisis.
The thirteen metropolitan regions are now affected, said Jérôme Salomon, Director General of Health, as well as Guadeloupe and Guyana in Overseas. Only Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion are exempt from proven cases.
The Oise, with 105 cases, presents the most important grouping of the territory. At least two of the three new deceased victims were linked to Crépy-en-Valois, where the first death of a French patient had been recorded, said the Regional Health Agency (ARS).
The last two regions, kept away from contamination, Corsica and Center-Val de Loire, reported their first cases. For the most part, the newly confirmed positive people, up to Guyana, had participated in the gathering of an evangelical church in Mulhouse between February 17 and 24, during which a RATP agent was also infected, the first confirmed case in within the Régie.
No postponement for municipal
For the time being, the postponement of the municipal elections (March 15-22) is not on the agenda. But many event cancellations have already been announced, such as MIPTV in Cannes, the second largest event in the world dedicated to television professionals scheduled from March 30 to April 2.
The effect of the virus is already weighing heavily on businesses. The Minister of Labor, Muriel Pénicaud, said that 400 companies had requested technical unemployment measures for 6,000 employees, mainly in tourism and catering.
The tour operators have also asked to be received "urgently" by the government. They note "a drop in activity in February of almost 25%, with an increased decrease in the last week (-60%) and a major risk of cancellations and postponements on recorded orders" they indicate in a statement.
Thursday, a "good hundred" of schools, colleges and high schools remained closed, mainly in the Oise (35,000 students affected) and Morbihan (9,000). Only one closed in Ile-de-France, in Louvres (Val-d'Oise).
With AFP
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