Coronavirus: France crosses a thousand contaminations, 19 deaths recorded

France has reached a milestone in the coronavirus epidemic. With the death toll rising, according to official figures, 19 dead and 1,126 confirmed cases, the country passed the threshold of a thousand people infected with Covid-19, Sunday March 8.

Fifth most affected country in the world, France is preparing for the transition to stage 3 of the state of alert, "inexorable" according to President Emmanuel Macron. Its release 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 joint transport, the closing 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.

In Haut-Rhin and Oise, two of the most affected departments, all schools and nurseries will be closed from Monday, for at least two weeks. This is also the case in Corsica, where all schools in Ajaccio will be closed for two weeks, the prefecture announced at the end of the day.

CORONAVIRUS - CLOSING OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND HIGH SCHOOLS IN THE CITY OF AJACCIO AS FROM MONDAY 9 MARCH AND SUNDAY 22 MARCH. Find out +> https://t.co/GvMz6Px1UO pic.twitter.com/cdvlsMPr2b

Drastic measures in Mulhouse

A week before the first round of municipal elections, the city of Mulhouse, located in the Haut-Rhin and major center of the coronavirus, on Sunday unveiled a battery of "exceptional" measures for the ballot.

In the 64 polling stations in Mulhouse, all equipped with electronic voting machines, 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 Sylvie Grisey, one of Ms. Lutz.

Canceled events and prohibited gatherings

To curb the threat of the coronavirus, the authorities are increasing the cancellation of events which were to attract several thousand people, such as the Mondial du tattoo originally planned for March 13 to 15 in Paris.

Several sporting events were also postponed this weekend, including the Ligue 1 Strasbourg-PSG soccer match scheduled for Saturday, or the women's rugby match between Scotland and France in the Six Nations tournament.

A decree, however, reduced Saturday the ban on closed gatherings of more than 5,000 people in France to April 15, against May 31 previously.

Hospitalized after being infected with the coronavirus, LREM deputy for Haute-Garonne Élisabeth Toutut-Picard is discharged from the hospital but must remain "confined for fourteen days at her home". For his part, the second deputy suffering from Covid-19 Jean-Luc Reitzer, deputy for Haut-Rhin, "is still in intensive care but his condition is stable", according to his entourage.

With AFP

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