COVID-19: But the number of patients hospitalized in intensive care with coronavirus continues to decline, with 367 patients, or 7 fewer in 24 hours
With 2,846 new cases of coronavirus in twenty-four hours “the situation is deteriorating” in France, summarized the Director-General of Health, Jérôme Salomon. The positivity rate continues to increase, with now 2.4% of people tested who prove to be contaminated, says the Directorate General of Health in its daily press release. 609,527 tests have been carried out over the last 7 days.
In the past 24 hours, 18 patients have died, bringing the death toll to 30,406 since the start of the epidemic. But the number of patients hospitalized in intensive care continues to decline, with 367 patients, or 7 fewer in twenty-four hours. Thursday evening, Public Health France had already reported that the indicators continued “to deteriorate” and that the transmission of the virus “is accentuated”, “more particularly” among young people.
“We can curb the epidemic”
On France Inter Friday morning, Jérôme Salomon, however, wanted to be optimistic: “we can curb the epidemic and put an end to risky” clusters “,” he said, 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! “. 27 new clusters have been reported since Thursday across the country, for a total of 342 still active, according to the DGS.
Paris and Marseille remain “particularly at risk” and “about twenty departments are above a certain threshold of vigilance”, said Jérôme Salomon. The capital and the Bouches-du-Rhône have been classified as areas of “active circulation” of the virus, which allows their prefects to take additional measures to fight the epidemic, in consultation with elected officials, by a decree published on Friday in Official newspaper.
“Awareness”
“The virus does not think, does not move, does not jump,” said the DGS in its daily report. “We are the ones who travel, who come into contact with others, who sometimes slack off in terms of prevention. There is no fatality “. “The main clusters are those where there are large gatherings, festive, friendly, family events”, described the Director-General of Health. “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,” Jérôme Salomon concluded.
In addition to these “barrier measures” (physical distance, hand washing, etc.) it is also “urgent to make it compulsory to wear a mask in all enclosed spaces, in all offices, in all classrooms and lecture halls, and also to encourage unambiguously teleworking, distance learning and the reorganization of classes with smaller numbers, “said a group of doctors on Friday, calling for” awareness “before the start of the school year.
“A question of consistency”
Imposing the mask in all closed collective places “is a question of consistency”, judge the twenty health professionals in this text published online by Liberation, while it has been mandatory since July 20 in closed public places (shops , utilities, etc.). Faced with the rise in the number of cases of contamination, more and more large cities and tourist municipalities require the wearing of a mask in the street, especially in markets or certain busy streets.
Friday, a decree from the prefecture of Charente-Maritime imposes it on the island of Ré and in certain public spaces in Saintes and Saint-Georges d’Oléron, after a similar decision for Fouras, Saint-Denis d’Oléron and Castles of Oléron. Covering your mouth and nose is also compulsory on open-air markets and sales in the Var and will become so on Monday in some of the streets of Toulon.
