The Regional Health Agency (ARS) and the prefecture of Grand Est announced on Tuesday that eight new foci of contamination with Covid-19 have appeared in the region since May 11.

Eight new foci of coronavirus contamination have been identified in the Grand Est region since May 11, the first day of deconfinement in France, the Regional Health Agency (ARS) and the regional prefecture announced on Tuesday.

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Between three and sixteen people per household

Four departments in the region are concerned: a "cluster" has been identified in Haute-Marne, "four in Moselle, two in Bas-Rhin, one in Meuse", listed Marie-Ange Desailly-Chanson, director general of the 'ARS du Grand-Est during a press conference. The number of cases per cluster ranges from three to sixteen maximum for one of the outbreaks identified in Moselle. Among these eight new foci of contamination, four are in nursing homes, one in a "health establishment", one in "a structure for social assistance for children", one in a "medico-social establishment for disabled people" and the last in a "military grip".

According to France Bleu Lorraine Nord , it would be the gendarmerie of Sarreguemines where eight soldiers were tested positive for Covid-19. 

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A link with deconfinement?

The other situations to which Public Health France ensures to pay "special attention", are situations involving more than ten people who have been in contact with a patient. There are two on Tuesday in the Grand Est, in the Meuse and Moselle, said Marie-Ange Desailly-Chanson. The director of the ARS remained cautious about a link between the appearance of these new cases and the start of deconfinement. "Possibly some existed before", the average incubation period of the virus being "seven to ten days".

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550 new cases registered in the Grand Est since May 13

Since the implementation of the 'contact tracing' device on May 13, the Grand Est has registered just over 550 positive patients, who have been in contact with around 1,200 people, according to Maxime Rouchon, coordinator of the device for the Primary Fund health insurance in the region. Sick people have the choice between isolating themselves at home or in an outside structure, generally a hotel. This second option was chosen by only two people in the Bas-Rhin, said the prefect of this department and the Grand Est region Josiane Chevalier.