Paris (AFP)
"The situation is serious" in Saint-Georges de L'Oyapock, commune of Guyana on the border with Brazil, still confined due to the presence of a cluster and its proximity to Brazil very affected by the epidemic of coronavirus, recognized Tuesday Philippe Philippe, ensuring that the border was "held".
The Prime Minister was questioned during questions to the government by the PCF deputy André Chassaigne, who, relaying a question from the deputy of Guyana Gabriel Serville (GDR), demanded the deployment on the border between Guyana and Brazil of part of the resources deployed in Mulhouse at the height of the epidemic.
The head of government stressed that Guyana, thanks to "strict confinement" and "very strong transport restrictions" to get to the territory, "has managed overall to remain in stage 2 of the pandemic and to date we deplore a death. "
In Saint-Georges, which concentrates 71 of the 210 cases identified in Guyana, "the situation is serious. The discovery of many cases, concentrated in the districts which have maintained regular links with the Brazilian shore has triggered an intensification of the health response", he explained, with confinement maintained in Saint-Georges and extended to Camopi, a village upstream of the cluster.
The Prime Minister stressed "the special attention to be had on border rivers", particularly in view of the 4,000 cases identified in the neighboring Brazilian state of Amapa.
Édouard Philippe recalled that the armed forces of Guyana were requisitioned to support the border police, as part of Operation Resiliences. "This mission made it possible to hold the border continuously," he said.
"Interception means arrived in reinforcement make it possible to hold the river between Saint-Georges and Oiapoque (Brazilian city on the other side of the river, note)", any docking of dugout on the French bank is prohibited and on the bridge, the passages are "strictly regulated and limited", assured the head of government.
© 2020 AFP