Four days after the start of deconfinement, some elected officials, such as the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, are demanding the reopening of the parks and gardens. For now, the government is braking four irons, but exemptions have still been granted, as for the Citadel park, in Lille, open from then Monday, and the Georges-Valbon park (Seine-Saint-Denis ), which reopens Thursday as a test.
The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran is reluctant to reopen these places, dreading large gatherings and a potential transmission. A position shared by certain epidemiologists who put both feet on the brake pedal.
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"This is how we create infectious foci"
"The moment is too critical," says virologist Christine Rouzioux. According to her, opening parks and gardens is giving young people the opportunity to get together, to see each other with friends. "It is too tempting, they will not resist it ...", she said, adding that "this is precisely how we create infectious foci". A risk to be avoided at all costs, especially in Île de France where the virus circulates a lot.
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Infectious disease specialist Anne-Claude Crémieux agrees. "Parks and gardens are a fun environment where it is sometimes difficult to keep distance". But why not reopen them, she says, making it mandatory to wear a mask? This mask that reminds those who have forgotten that the Covid-19 is still there.
For his part, the infectiologist François Bricaire calls for patience. "It is better to wait another two or three weeks," he said, recalling not without mischief that the Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Vincennes have been accessible again since Monday.