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On Friday, 7,379 new coronavirus infections were registered in France, the second highest figure recorded since the start of the epidemic after that of April 1. The new registered infections have been increasing for more than a month, and have returned to the levels of the end of March and the beginning of April, so much so that the trend of the epidemic has been defined as “exponential” by the Ministry of Health. But the situation is very different from the spring, because hospital admissions remain fairly stable and controlled, and especially the number of daily deaths is low and has not shown upward trends so far. However, there is widespread concern in France, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to speak out about the possibility of a second lockdown.
Like most European countries, France began to relax its restrictive measures to contain the epidemic at the end of May, and registered a stabilization of new cases of contagion detected every day from June, before the rebound that began last month . Although the contagion graph shows an alarming trend, the situation in France is much better than in the acute phases of the epidemic also because most of the cases verified do not present symptoms and are on average younger and, therefore, with less risk . A dynamic similar to that registered in Italy, where the figures have started to rise again but are much lower than the French.
However, according to the French Ministry of Health, the percentage of newly infected people who manifest the symptoms of COVID-19 is growing. The government has also admitted that the growth in detected cases cannot be explained solely by the greater number of tests, which in any case have increased a lot: at the end of May an average of one person out of every two thousand inhabitants was carried out every day, today more or less three. The French government wants to reach one million weekly tests by the end of September, further increasing the current 840,000: Italy, to make a comparison, made almost 550,000 in the last week and less than 400,000 in the previous one.
Macron has said for now that “a second cannot be ruled out.” emergency shutdown, if the situation gets out of control. But it is an extreme measure that, as in all European countries, the government will try to avoid so as not to block the economy again. Meanwhile, some less drastic rules have been reintroduced: a few weeks ago, in the busiest places in Paris, the obligation to wear a mask was made again, which from Friday was extended to the entire metropolitan area of the city.
The country has identified a series of “red zones” in which the virus circulates more than in other places: that is, departments – the administrative territorial subdivision by regions – in which more than 50 new cases have been registered for every 100 thousand inhabitants in the previous seven days. There are 21 to date, mainly in the Paris and French Riviera area, particularly in and around Marseille. The local administrators of the departments defined as “red zones” have greater powers and autonomy to apply restrictive measures.
The government’s concern refers mainly to the return of millions of people to their jobs scheduled for next week, and the reopening of schools in the country, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. The mask will be mandatory for children over 11 years old.
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