Paris (AFP)

The start of the school year will be postponed from September 2 to 13 in Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy, as well as in the part of Guyana in the red zone due to the "serious" health situation due to the Covid- 19, the government spokesman said on Wednesday.

Gabriel Attal added that the state of health emergency would be extended "until November 15 in the West Indies, Guyana and French Polynesia", with a bill presented "next week".

These decisions were taken by the Covid Defense Council and the Council of Ministers which "at length" looked into "the dramatic situation in several overseas territories, in the West Indies and in French Polynesia, where under-vaccination is wreaking havoc", said the spokesperson.

Gabriel Attal insisted on "national solidarity" with the sending of "hundreds of caregivers in reinforcement on the spot to organize evacuations and to guarantee the supply of oxygen".

© 2021 AFP