Deconfinement "postponed" in Mayotte where the virus is "actively" circulating

Text by: RFI Follow

In phase three of the Covid-19 epidemic recently, Mayotte, the French overseas department, will not begin its gradual release from containment on May 11. The announcement was made on Monday by the Prime Minister when the deconfinement plan was presented to the Senate.

Publicity

In Mayotte, "  we have chosen to postpone deconfinement,  " said Edouard Philippe when he presented his deconfinement strategy to the Senate on Monday. A "  point  " would be made on May 14 "  to consider the relaxation of containment and in particular the return to primary school on May 18,  " he added.

Mayotte, which has just gone into phase 3, counts Monday 686 cases, including 6 people in intensive care, and seven deaths. For the Prime Minister, it is a question of avoiding the saturation of a hospital system already very requested by the epidemic of dengue, also deadly for the Mahorais.

► Read also: Before the Senate, Édouard Philippe defends his plan and postpones the deconfinement of Mayotte

The curfew system is also maintained, said the prefect of Mayotte Jean-François Colombet. "  Containment worked well for three weeks, but today it works less well, because half of the population is under 18 years old,  " he analyzed. But he also pointed out that several hundred people had also visited mosques.

As for the “murengué” (traditional Mahoran boxing rallies) which developed despite the confinement and caused scuffles with the police, the prefect acknowledged that 32 had taken place since the start of Ramadan.

Maintaining entry bans in overseas territories

Before the senators, Édouard Philippe also announced that the bans on arrival in the Overseas Territories, implemented since the start of the epidemic, would be maintained beyond May 11, but that a point d 'stage would be carried out' at the  beginning of June  'on these'  very restrictive measures , which weigh in particular on freight capacities.  "

Return of overseas students

The Prime Minister specified that the government would take advantage of "  the deconfinement to organize the return home of the overseas students who expressed the wish  ".

Sunday, the Minister of Overseas Annick Girardin announced that those who return will be placed in the fortnight. Each year, 40,000 overseas students come to study in France. These “  isolated overseas students  ” are among the 800,000 young people under the age of 25 who are “  precarious or modest  ”, to whom aid will be paid in June of 200 euros, announced Edouard Philippe.

( With AFP)

This postponement of the deconfinement does not surprise Estelle Youssoufa, president of the Collectif des Citoyens de Mayotte.

It is obvious that it is impossible to envisage a deconfinement in Mayotte while we are in full explosion epidemic ...

Estelle Youssoufa, president of the Collectif des Citoyens de Mayotte

Aram Mbengue

Our selection on the coronavirus

• Listen to our daily chronicle  Coronavirus info

• The practical questions  :
→  What is known about the mode of contagion
→  disparities and inequalities in coronaviruses: what to remember
→  What outcomes for clinical trials?
→  A vaccine, the only solution to stem the pandemic?
→  How to make a mask and use it well

• Our series  : "  The response, country by country  "

• Each evening, find the State of the world and Africa facing the pandemic

• See also the files of RFI Savoirs on the Covid-19:
→  Birth of a pandemic
→  Everyday life put to the test
→  The history of epidemics
→  Science facing the Covid-19
→  The geopolitical consequences

Newsletter With the Daily Newsletter, find the headlines directly in your mailbox

Follow all international news by downloading the RFI application

• France
• Coronavirus
• Overseas
• Mayotte

On the same subject

France: Macron calls for approaching deconfinement with "pragmatism and good will"

France: the deconfinement plan rejected by the Senate by 89 votes against and 81 votes for

Before the Senate, Edouard Philippe defends his plan and postpones the deconfinement of Mayotte