REPORTAGE
If metropolitan France began its deconfinement for eight days, Mayotte, 101st French department, is to date the only one still confined. Annick Girardin, Minister of Overseas, went on site Tuesday to reassure the population concerned by the heavy traffic of the Covid-19 on the island. "Today is my first outing. We must remember that Mayotte is at the heart of the Republic and that the State here is present. We will force and accelerate support," promised Annick Girardin to the Mahorais.
>> LIVE - Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Tuesday May 19
His ministerial plane transported more than six tonnes of medical equipment, including an automated device for carrying out tests, a dozen respirators and personnel from the health reserve. Wednesday, 850,000 masks ordered by the department must arrive by plane.
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A population resistant to the virus
The minister also greeted the nursing staff of the only hospital on the island, without the union representatives who chose to boycott the meeting. The deputy Les Républicains Mansour Kamardine, confined to the island, underlines this effort but regrets the discrepancy with the metropolis. "The difficulty is that it arrives very late. Today, we must go further. We must double the capacity to test," he denounces.
By its youth, the Mahoran population defends itself better against the virus than the mainland. Of the 1,419 cases of Covid-19 identified, only eleven patients are in intensive care and 19 Mahorais have succumbed to the virus.