Paris (AFP)

The government has beefed up its response in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus, prohibiting all gatherings of more than 1,000 people across the country, while the threshold of a thousand cases was crossed Sunday in France.

"Nationally, all gatherings of more than 1,000 people are now prohibited," announced Minister of Health Olivier Véran, following a Defense Council at the Elysée Palace, the third since appearance of the virus in December.

So far, only gatherings of more than 5,000 people have been banned, which had already resulted in numerous cancellations of fairs (Mondial du tattoo originally scheduled for March 13 to 15 in Paris, Book Fair scheduled from 20 to March 23), concerts, shows and sports performances.

A decree published Saturday had reduced the duration of prohibition to April 15, against May 31 initially. The minister did not specify on Sunday the terms of this reinforced ban, which could jeopardize the normal holding of the match of the Champions League PSG-Dortmund on Wednesday and that of the Six Nations Tournament, opposing France to Ireland, Saturday at the Stade de France.

Exceptions will be made, he said: demonstrations, competitions and the use of public transport. It will be up to the prefects and the ministries to "put together a list of events considered useful for the life of the nation".

- Closed doors -

"We are still at stage 2 tonight, that means that our priority is to do everything to slow the circulation of the virus on the national territory", underlined Mr. Véran, while France has 1,126 infected people and 19 deaths, making the country the second most affected in Europe, after Italy.

In France, "the epidemic has not, at this stage, affected the whole country, but it is progressing in certain territories in which viral activity is very dynamic," said the minister, who will soften the conditions for having resorted to teleconsultations and also signed a decree making it possible to cap overtime hours for healthcare professionals in the hospital.

In Haut-Rhin and Oise, two of the most affected departments, all schools and crèches will remain closed Monday for at least two weeks. The measure concerns 165,000 students in the Oise and 127,000 in the Haut-Rhin. Concretely, teachers and students will use distance education to ensure continuity of lessons.

Now considered a source of contamination, Ajaccio in Corsica has 23 of the 28 cases on the Isle of Beauty. To cope with the spread of the virus, the prefecture has also announced the closure for two weeks of all schools. A measure concerning around 10,000 students.

- Sanitary reserve -

Faced with the exceptional situation, France is preparing for the transition to stage 3 of the state of alert, "inexorable" according to Mr. Macron and which should occur in the coming days.

Unlike stage 2, stage 3, that of the epidemic, no longer aims to stop the spread but to mitigate the consequences.

This stage provides for the suspension of certain public transport, the closure of schools in all or part of the territory, the restriction of gatherings and the mobilization of all the care sectors: hospitals, liberal health professionals and care and home help.

For healthcare establishments, on the front line in the fight against the coronavirus, it is a question of being ready for the launch of the "white plan", which had been launched on February 25 in the hospitals of Creil and Compiègne, in the Oise. A "blue plan", the counterpart for the Ehpad, will be activated to anticipate the increase in staff and prevent the isolation of residents.

In addition to health establishments, the health reserve made up of voluntary health professionals (hospital director, doctor, psychologist, pharmacist, nurse, paramedic), including those who have been retired for less than 5 years, is mobilized in anticipation of needs.

"The elderly are the most vulnerable to the virus and must be protected," said the Directorate General of Health, recommending that children under the age of 15 should not visit them.

One week before the first municipal round, "exceptional" measures will also be put in place for the ballot. In Mulhouse, a major center for coronavirus, surgical gloves and hydroalcoholic gel to disinfect the hands will be made available to voters.

The number of people in each office will also be limited and, after each vote, the machines will be systematically disinfected, as well as the pens used by voters to initial the registers and validate their vote, detailed the municipality in place.

© 2020 AFP