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FRANCE REPORTED A new record for daily coronavirus infections today, a day after the government announced new restrictions on bars and restaurants in major cities, sparking outrage from local politicians and business owners.
Figures from Public Health France showed 16,096 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, a record, although experts warn that tests during the first wave of coronavirus in March-April captured only a fraction of the cases.
The centrist government of President Emmanuel Macron yesterday announced a series of new measures to try to curb the spread of the disease, including closing all bars and restaurants in Marseille and earlier closing times in Paris and elsewhere.
Faced with criticism from the mayors of Paris and Marseille, legal challenges and calls from some bar owners to challenge the new orders, Prime Minister Jean Castex called for “accountability” and hinted that his opponents were playing politics.
“What I don’t want is for us to go back to March,” he said, referring to one of the strictest national closures in Europe in which the French had to fill out forms to leave their homes.
Anger for closures
The southern port city of Marseille has been placed on “high alert,” while Paris and ten other cities are on “high alert,” the second level in a new sliding-scale system of infection control measures.
Public gatherings in all these cities, including Bordeaux and Lyon, have been limited to 10 people and attendance at major sporting events or concerts to 1,000.
The left-wing mayor of Marseille objected that he had not been consulted about orders to close bars, restaurants and sports facilities, and insisted that measures were taken locally to curb the outbreak.
“I’m angry because there was no consultation,” Mayor Michele Rubirola, herself a doctor, told Franceinfo radio.
“Why turn the screws when our numbers have been improving for a few days?”
The owners of restaurants, cafes and other businesses in Marseille said they would organize a protest against the new measures tomorrow.
Bernard Marty of the UMIH union, which represents the hospitality industry, warned of the “insurrection” and several restaurant owners vowed to ignore the closure orders.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who will also see her gyms and other indoor sports facilities closed, said she had filed a formal protest.
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“I don’t think closing bars after 10 pm is an appropriate measure,” Hidalgo told France 3 television.
“It is difficult to understand: how will you prevent the spread of the virus? How will the fact that we can no longer exercise, while sport is an important part of staying healthy with a strong immune system help us? ” she asked.
The Paris hospital authority, AP-HP, said today that an influx of coronavirus patients was forcing it to start canceling the non-emergency surgery starting this weekend.
The number of coronavirus patients in Paris hospitals had more than doubled in three weeks, from 150 to 330, and would likely reach 600 by the end of the month, said deputy director Francois Cremieux.
The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care has followed a similar upward curve, from 50 three weeks ago to 132 yesterday and probably more than 200 next week, he said.
With a quarter of critical care beds now occupied by coronavirus patients, AP-HP will begin by canceling 20 percent of operations to free up capacity, Cremieux said.
© – AFP 2020
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