Paris (AFP)
"The indicators are bad, the signals are worrying and the situation is deteriorating. But there is no inevitability. The fate of the epidemic (of Covid-19) is in our hands", assured Friday on France Inter , Jérôme Salomon, Director General of Health.
In its weekly bulletin released Thursday evening, the Directorate General of Health (DGS) had reported that the indicators continued "to deteriorate" and that transmission of the virus "is accentuated", "more particularly" among young people.
"We can curb the epidemic and put an end to risky clusters", however underlined Mr. Salomon, N.2 of the Ministry of Health, citing the case of Mayenne, a department where several outbreaks of Covid-19 had been identified.
"The people of Mayenne mobilized, observed all the barrier gestures, agreed to be massively tested: it worked!" He said.
The cities of Paris and Marseille remain "particularly at risk" and "about twenty departments are above a certain threshold of vigilance", said Mr. Salomon.
On the other hand, "there is no alert on the Overseas", insisted the Director General of Health. "It is in metropolitan France that we focus on the most frequented places. The main clusters are those where there are large gatherings, festive, friendly, family events".
Mr. Salomon recalled that it was necessary to be tested "when you have symptoms, even really mild ones, when you have been exposed, when you have a colleague, a friend who is positive".
"You should not hesitate to be tested when you think you have been exposed to a risk," he insisted.
"We must facilitate access to masks," Mr. Salomon also wished, promising that "the price of the mask will drop sharply in September." "It must be available to the most precarious, the most vulnerable," he asked.
"At the start of the school year, the virus will still be there and we will have to live with it, but by applying the prevention pact and barrier measures, it is the best way to live well with the virus," he concluded.
© 2020 AFP