All gatherings of more than 1,000 people are now prohibited throughout the territory, announced Sunday 8th March 2020 the Minister of Health Olivier Véran.
The symbolic threshold of 1,000 cases of contamination with the new coronavirus was crossed in France on Sunday 8th March 2020.
The last official assessment of Public Health France published at the end of the afternoon reported 1,126 people contaminated with Coronavirus Covid-19 since the beginning of the epidemic and 19 deaths.
This represents 177 more cases than Saturday evening, where 946 cases and 16 deaths were recorded.
The country is still in stage 2, said at a press conference the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, after a Defense Council convened by Emmanuel Macron Sunday evening at the Elysée Palace, the third since the beginning of the epidemic in the country.
Olivier Véran sur le coronavirus: “Nous sommes toujours, ce soir, au stade 2” pic.twitter.com/bRUjQcQ6oS
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) March 8, 2020
Gatherings of more than 1000 people prohibited
“The epidemic has not affected the whole country but in some territories the viral activity is very dynamic”, underlined the minister, who evoked a situation which could last “several weeks even several months”.
New measure announced this Sunday evening: all gatherings of more than 1000 people are now prohibited, throughout the national territory.
Olivier Véran: “Tous les rassemblements de plus de 1000 personnes sont désormais interdits” pic.twitter.com/8sETaDdOJv
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) March 8, 2020
“The prefects will put together a list of events considered useful for the life of the nation,” said Olivier Véran without mentioning the municipal elections .
So far, this ban has affected rallies of over 5,000 people.
Simplified use of teleconsultation
In addition, measures will be taken to strengthen access to city doctors and to facilitate the use of teleconsultation.
The Minister undertook to sign “tomorrow, a decree to considerably soften the conditions for carrying out telemedicine. »Patients will also be able to go through a practitioner other than their attending physician if the latter is not available.
“Each patient throughout the country will be able to access a teleconsultation when they need it.”
The fifth most affected country in the world
France is the fifth most affected country in the world and the second in Europe, after Italy, the north of which has been placed in quarantine.
With 366 deaths and more than 5,880 confirmed cases, Italy has decided to quarantine a large area from Milan, the economic capital, to Venice, a high tourist city. An unprecedented measure in Europe which causes the country to confine 15 million people or a quarter of its population.
The Minister of Health once again insisted on Sunday evening on the need to “respect and apply the barrier gestures “ broadcast for several days by the authorities to curb the spread of the virus: wash your hands well, cough in your elbow, use disposable handkerchiefs.
The country is preparing for the transition to stage 3 of the state of alert, “inexorable” according to Emmanuel Macron and which should occur in the coming days.
Unlike stage 2, stage 3, that of the epidemic, no longer aims to stop the spread but to mitigate the consequences.
White plan ready
This stage provides for the suspension of certain joint transport, the closing of schools in all or part of the territory, the restriction of gatherings and the mobilization of all the care sectors: hospitals, liberal health professionals and care and home help.
For healthcare establishments, on the front line in the fight against the coronavirus, it is a question of being ready for the triggering of the “white plan”.
The Minister of Health Olivier Véran also announced Sunday evening that he was going to ensure that the overtime hours of health professionals at the hospital were cut.
Coronavirus: Olivier Véran a “signé un décret pour déplafonner les heures supplémentaires pour les professionnels de santé à l’hôpital” pic.twitter.com/uTfuwLEGyS
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) March 8, 2020
Level 1 has already been engaged in order to put “all the hospitals under pressure to plan” the rapid implementation of the “essential means in case of an influx” of patients, according to Jerome Salomon.
A “white plan” had been launched on February 25 in the hospitals of Creil and Compiègne, in Oise. A “blue plan”, the counterpart for the Ehpad, will be activated to anticipate the increase in staff and prevent the isolation of residents.
Schools and nurseries closed on Monday
“The elderly are the most vulnerable to the virus and must be protected,” said the Directorate General of Health, recommending that children under the age of 15 should not visit them.
In Haut-Rhin and Oise, two of the most affected departments, all schools and nurseries will be closed from Monday, for at least two weeks.
The measure announced by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe will affect 165,000 students in the Oise and 127,000 in the Haut-Rhin. Concretely, teachers and students will use distance education to ensure continuity of lessons.
A total of 300,000 students will be affected by the closure of schools, from kindergarten to high school.
In Corsica too, all schools in Ajaccio will be closed for two weeks, the prefecture announced late Sunday.
#COVIDー19 POINT DE SITUATION samedi 7 mars 19h : la #Corse enregistre 1️⃣9️⃣cas positifs de #coronavirus 🔷Les enquêtes auprès des personnes contacts sont toujours en cours🔷De nouveaux prélèvements ont été réalisés ce jour, les résultats sont attendus demain dans la journée pic.twitter.com/uWdx1h2Ppz
— ARS.CORSE (@ARSCORSE1) March 7, 2020
Serial cancellations
In addition, the authorities are multiplying the cancellations of events which were to attract several thousand people, such as the Mondial du tattoo originally planned for March 13th to 15th in Paris.
Several sporting events have also been postponed this weekend, including the Ligue 1 Strasbourg-PSG football match scheduled for Saturday, or the women’s rugby match between Scotland and France in the Six Nations tournament.
However, a decree reduced the ban on closed gatherings of more than 5,000 people in France on April 15 to April 15, compared to May 31 previously.
99 countries affected, more than 3,500 dead
The LREM deputy of Haute-Garonne Elisabeth Toutut-Picard, hospitalized following her contamination with the coronavirus, left the hospital but must remain “confined for fourteen days at her home”. For his part, the second deputy suffering from Covid-19 Jean-Luc Reitzer (Haut-Rhin) “is still in intensive care but his condition is stable”, according to his entourage.
Since the appearance of the new coronavirus in December, 105,828 people have been infected and 3,584 have died worldwide according to a last calculation established on Sunday March 8 at 3 p.m.
