(Fighting New Coronary Pneumonia) France has 4,771 new confirmed cases in a single day, the Minister of Education says not to postpone the start of school
China News Agency, Paris, August 20 (Reporter Li Yang) On the 20th local time, the number of new confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia in France exceeded 4,000 in a single day. Although the spread of the virus continued to accelerate, the French Minister of Education said that day that it would not postpone the start of school.
According to the epidemic data released by the French Ministry of Health that evening, France’s new confirmed cases reached 4,771 in a single day on the 20th, a significant increase from 3,776 the day before, and a new high since the “unblocking” in May. The French official statistics of confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia approached 230,000, reaching 229,814. There are now 30,480 deaths from new coronary pneumonia in France.
The positive rate of the new coronavirus in France in the last 7 days has risen to 3.3%. There are still 266 cluster infection cases under investigation, with 33 new cases in a single day. The number of hospitalized patients is now 4748, of which 380 are still severely ill.
French Education Minister Blanche emphasized in a live TV talk show that night that the start of school will not be postponed, and the new school year in France will still officially start on September 1 according to the original schedule.
Blanche said that delaying the start of school is not among the current options, and students need to receive more education. He said that there may be exceptions in individual areas, but in general the current epidemic prevention measures can allow teaching activities to continue.
The French epidemic data show that the number of young people infected with the virus is rising rapidly recently. Blanche said that due to the current development and changes of the epidemic, after the beginning of the new school year, middle school students must wear masks in "all situations" at school. Elementary school students under the age of 11 are not required to wear masks, but they must also wear masks when social distance cannot be guaranteed. The government will provide masks for children when necessary.
The Minister of Education also hopes to conduct more screening tests for the new crown virus, paying particular attention to the detection of infected persons in school classes. He said that the goal is still to speed up the speed of testing in order to reduce the time of temporary suspension of classes due to the detection of infected persons.
Some French teachers' unions expressed concern about the start of the new school year as scheduled, especially the recent surge in confirmed cases. The teachers' union also believes that the social distancing regulations in the school's epidemic prevention measures have been significantly relaxed. Some parents are also hesitant to let their children return to school in the new school year. (Finish)