The Covid-19 coronavirus epidemic has just claimed a fourth victim in France. The first in Brittany in the Morbihan department.
The coronavirus Covid-19 has just made a fourth victim in France, the first in Brittany, in the department of Morbihan.
The information was announced Tuesday by the Ministry of Health, while the bar of 200 confirmed cases was exceeded.
92-year-old man
“This Tuesday 3rd March 2020 at midday, 13 new cases were reported, bringing the total to 204 cases in France. Among these new cases, an additional death was announced this morning in Morbihan: it is a man aged 92, “said the ministry in a statement.
Coronavirus: Un 4e décès en France (officiel) #AFP
— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) March 3, 2020
The first three dead was an 81-year-old Chinese tourist diagnosed at the end of January, a 60-year-old teacher and an 89-year-old woman who had been hospitalized in Hauts-de-France.
This region is the most affected by the epidemic with the main focus in the Oise from which two of the deceased patients came.
Read also: Coronavirus: a new death recorded in the Oise
One case in twelve of the thirteen regions of France
While the epidemic accelerated last week, at least one case has now been recorded in 12 of the 13 metropolitan areas, all except Corsica , according to the Health Report of France. This makes Hexagon one of the main outbreaks of the new virus in Europe, with Italy and Germany.
Since this weekend, more stringent measures have been taken to prevent further spread. They correspond to the transition to phase 2 (out of 3) in the fight against the epidemic.
Read also: Coronavirus: Master Gims’ concerts cancelled, his tour postponed
Thus, a “good hundred” of schools, colleges and high schools are closed in France, mainly in Oise and Morbihan, according to the Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer.
This concerns “around 35,000 students in the Oise”, and “9,000 in the Morbihan”. There may be other outbreaks that “appear in the coming days,” said Blanquer on LCI.
Ten million masks
Faced with this situation, the worried French rush to the masks and hydroalcoholic gels. The Directorate General for the Repression of Fraud (DGCCRF) will investigate the large increases in the selling prices of these products observed since the onset of the epidemic.
Hydroalcoholic gel or masks, “I haven’t had any for 15 days, long before cases are declared in Morbihan,” commented Céline Fourel, a pharmacist in one of the affected municipalities in the department.
L’Organisation mondiale de santé OMS alerte sur le “rapide épuisement” des stocks d’équipements de protection #AFP pic.twitter.com/mSA10Y1CN8
— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) March 3, 2020
To protect city doctors, the Minister of Health announced that ten million masks would be distributed in pharmacies in France.
They are added to “five million surgical masks” already distributed “in regional health agencies and to health establishments and nursing homes for the elderly”.
And Emmanuel Macron, who was to go in the afternoon to the crisis centre of the Ministry of Health, announced on Twitter the requisition of “all stocks and the production of protective masks” to distribute them to caregivers and ill.
Liberal medical unions have demanded that masks with a high level of protection (known as FFP2) be urgently distributed to these caregivers. They argue that surgical masks, primarily intended for a patient not to infect other people, are not enough to protect doctors.
cancellations
On the other hand, gatherings of more than 5,000 people in “confined environments” have been cancelled or postponed. This concerns many concerts, as well as the Book Fairs, the Tourism Fair, and other professional fairs.
On the sport side, L1 football matches are “not subject to any particular restrictions” at this stage, said Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu, no more than the Top 14 rugby championship.
Differences in treatment according to events sometimes have difficulty being understood by the general public.
There is “no systematic cancellation of events” but an assessment “at the local level”, said Jérôme Salomon, stressing that the government was concerned with “keeping a normal life in the territory”. Among the criteria, the geographical origin or the degree of proximity of the participants.
The economy already impacted
Employees at the Louvre do not understand why these cancellations do not apply to the most visited museum in the world (9.6 million visitors last year). They invoked their right of withdrawal Sunday and Monday , the museum then remaining closed. Tuesday is its weekly closing day, and it is unknown if it will reopen Wednesday.
Certain parts of the economy are already suffering from tourism to the manufacturing sector. To try to reassure, the central bankers and finance ministers of the G7 promised on Tuesday to use “all means” necessary, including “budgetary measures” to support the paralyzed global economy.
Patrice Faure , prefect of Morbihan, is organizing a press conference at 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3, 2020, to present the various measures implemented in Morbihan to deal with the first outbreak of Covid-19 coronavirus which has said 1 st March in the department.
Emmanuel Macron annonce que l’État français réquisitionnait “tous les stocks et la production de masques de protection” pour les distribuer aux soignants et aux personnes atteintes du coronavirus #AFP
— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) March 3, 2020
Read also: Coronavirus: 19 cases confirmed in Brittany, schools and cinemas closed… what you need to know
