Paris (AFP)
The accelerated spread of the coronavirus in France, which now affects more than 600 people, sounds the general mobilization of health services, in particular in the two most affected departments, Oise and Haut-Rhin, including schools and crèches will keep doors closed from Monday.
In addition to these measures announced Friday evening by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, hospitals and clinics are "under tension" and must be ready throughout the territory to trigger their "white plan", said the Minister of Health Olivier Véran .
It is a crisis mechanism enabling establishments to cope with an exceptional health situation by internally mobilizing all the means at their disposal - a white plan was thus launched on February 25 in the hospitals of Creil and Compiègne after the first proven contamination.
A similar device, called "blue plan" will be activated in the same way in the Ehpad. But for the time being, "the white plan and the blue plan are not yet launched," the ministry insisted on Saturday.
The closure of schools, for at least two weeks in Haut-Rhin and Oise, two departments among the most affected, concerns all schools and crèches, said Edouard Philippe after an interministerial meeting at the Ministry of Health .
Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said on Saturday that these measures concerned 155,000 students in the Oise and 127,000 in the Haut-Rhin, all of whom will be able to follow "class at home": "Each family will be contacted" at this end, he added.
In these two departments is also instituted the "limitation of all gatherings, except those which are essential to the social and democratic life", added the head of the government.
A decree, Saturday, also brings the ban on gatherings of more than 5,000 people to April 15 and no longer to May 31 as initially announced on March 4.
- worldwide tattoo prohibited -
The situation remains unchanged in the other territories. "Tonight, we therefore remain in phase 2", he underlined, even if a transition to phase 3, that of the epidemic, is "inexorable" in the long term in the face of the expected multiplication of contamination.
As a precaution, the prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis, where 12 cases have been reported, has also banned "an evangelistic gathering planned this weekend at Blanc-Mesnil and likely to bring together up to 2,000 people from several departments ".
A similar meeting in February in Mulhouse has generated dozens of contaminations throughout France, from Corsica to Normandy and all the way to Guyana.
For its part, the Paris police prefect "decided to ban the Mondial du tattoo planned from March 13 to 15 at the Grande halle de la Villette".
"Although this event brings together less than 5,000 people simultaneously, the nature of the activities taking place there and the presence of numerous visitors from areas of active circulation of the virus present a particular risk," said the prefecture.
Several sporting events were postponed this weekend, including the Strasbourg-Paris SG Ligue 1 football match scheduled for Saturday, or the women's rugby match between Scotland and France in the Six Nations tournament.
Friday morning, Emmanuel Macron reiterated his conviction that, "the epidemic will be there". France is one of the main centers of the virus in Europe, along with Italy and Germany. The milestone of 101,000 infected people has been crossed worldwide.
In France, recalled the Director General of Health Jérôme Salomon, the virus is now present in all regions of metropolitan France and in three overseas regions (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana).
Faced with this acceleration, the authorities are led to prepare stage 3 of the precautionary measures which could involve more restrictive measures, on a case-by-case basis, such as the suspension of public transport.
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"I also want to play down the transition to stage 3," said the Prime Minister on Friday evening. "When stage 3 comes, we will take the necessary measures to respond to the epidemic to take care of the sick and ensure the continuity of the economic and social life of the country, including school life which will have to continue," he said. it hammered.
The important thing, recalled the Prime Minister, is to "curb the spread" of the virus.
The department of Bas-Rhin thus decided Friday to reduce the visits in the Ehpad to avoid the contamination of the old people in this bordering department of Haut-Rhin.
And the selling prices of hydroalcoholic gels, the use of which is recommended to avoid contamination, are now regulated by decree - 3 euros per 100 ml - and pharmacists are authorized to produce them themselves if necessary.
© 2020 AFP