Coronavirus: France is now in stage 3 of the epidemic

Text by: RFI Follow

In France, a new step has been taken in the fight against the new coronavirus: phase 3 was launched by the authorities this Saturday, March 14. Restaurants, bars, nightclubs, cinemas are expected to close. Shops are also affected, with the exception of food stores, pharmacies, banks, tobacconists and even petrol stations, said Edouard Philippe.

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" We are facing a beginning and rapid epidemic on the national territory, so we are now in stage 3 ", said this Saturday the Director General of Health, Jérôme Salomon.

France is therefore now facing an epidemic, officially. In other words, the new coronavirus is actively circulating on its territory: there is no longer any question of outbreaks here and there , and isolated cases elsewhere, but indeed of wide distribution.

The authorities' objective is now to mitigate the effects of the epidemic. And we are moving from a logic of detection and individual care to a collective logic. All the players in the healthcare system are mobilized, city doctors as well as hospitals. Infected patients whose condition is not serious will no longer be hospitalized, but kept at home. Thus the hospital will be able to dedicate its resources to the most serious cases.

The first round of municipal elections maintained

The French Prime Minister announced on Saturday evening the closure at 00:00 of all " places receiving the public not essential to the life of the country ", calling on the French to " more discipline " in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Restaurants, bars, nightclubs, cinemas are expected to close. Shops are also affected, with the exception of food stores, pharmacies, banks, tobacconists or petrol stations, said Edouard Philippe, who confirmed the continuation of the first round of municipal elections on Sunday " as expected ".

The other possible measures were listed in a document drawn up after the influenza A epidemic ten years ago - they talk about barrier measures to counter the epidemic wave. Some have already been taken at the local level, such as the ban on assemblies or the closing of schools, but they could be extended.

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• Coronavirus
• France
• Health and Medicine