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Thursday, September 24, 2020
In neighboring France, more corona tests are positive than ever since the start of the pandemic. Meanwhile, extensive testing is underway, but there are also problems. Meanwhile, tighter restrictions in the south of the country are causing problems.
A day after the crown’s measures tightened further, France reported a new record for new cases of infection. The health authority announced that another 16,096 people tested positive for the corona virus in 24 hours. That’s another 3,000 new infections more than the previous record from the day before. The number of deaths per crown increased by 52 in one day.
However, experts note that the infection numbers at the beginning of the first corona wave in March and April only accounted for a fraction of the actual infections due to low testing capacity and therefore cannot be compared to the numbers. since the introduction of large-scale testing. Meanwhile, more than 1.2 million tests are carried out weekly, while hardly any tests were available in the spring.
The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, however, admitted problems with the testing capacity. In fact, there are delays in the results in some cities, Véran told the Senate. But the bottleneck in evaluating the evidence “is not responsible for the new wave of the epidemic.” With around 31,500 deaths per crown, France is one of the most severely affected countries in Europe in absolute terms.
The measures cause anger in Marseille and Paris
As the number of new infections is skyrocketing, the French government tightened measures on Wednesday, especially in big cities. Among other things, all bars and restaurants in the most affected city of Marseille must close from Saturday, in Paris and other cities must close earlier. In addition, gatherings of more than ten people in parks and squares were prohibited.
The stricter measures are met with great anger and misunderstanding in the port metropolis of southern France. Mayor Michèle Rubirola told BFM TV station that restaurants and bars would have to close completely there, it had been decided without any consultation. The city council asked for a moratorium of ten days. You must first see how the situation of the crown develops in the city. The president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur region, Renaud Muselier, said he would take legal action against the closure of the restaurants. Meanwhile, restaurateurs have announced protests. Several restaurant owners threatened to ignore the closure orders.
Health Minister Véran announced on Thursday that “high alert” had been declared for Marseille and the overseas region of Guadeloupe. In addition to closing bars and restaurants, this also means that all public access facilities must close unless they have a “strict health protocol.” Theaters and cinemas are not affected.
Also in Paris, people are dissatisfied with the decisions made by the Minister of Health. Now there is a “high alert” in the capital, bars have to close at 10 pm on Monday. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, announced that she had filed a formal objection. She said she was informed on short notice and that she disagreed. In particular, she criticized the fact that gyms and sports halls must remain closed. Sport contributes to the fact that people have a “strong immune system,” he noted on the France 3 television channel.
Castex appeals to the “responsibility” of the French
Prime Minister Jean Castex tried to smooth things over. He appealed to the common “responsibility” of the French. “You cannot play with an epidemic,” Castex warned on channel France 2. In no case did he want to have to return to the strict exit restrictions that already applied between March and May.
Castex also announced new support measures for affected companies. Therefore, there should be a relief from your social security contributions. According to the Prime Minister, the short-time labor regulations will be extended until the end of the crown measures.
The main goal of his government’s policy is to avoid overloading hospitals, Castex said. In fact, the pressure on intensive care units from the number of corona infections, which has been increasing for weeks, is now so great that Paris hospitals are once again having to cancel operations that are not absolutely necessary. Starting next weekend, 20 percent of planned operations will initially be postponed, as announced by the public hospital company Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris.
