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EPISENTER: The French capital, Paris, has seen a sharp increase in crown cases. The Minister of Health sounds the alarm. Photo: CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON / EPA
Every 30 seconds, someone is infected with the coronavirus in Paris, and every 15 minutes someone ends up in the hospital, says the French Minister of Health.
Olivier Véran presented the grim statistics in a radio interview with RTL on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
The minister’s statement comes after the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, demanded that small stores be allowed to keep up business, despite the country’s closure.
Véran rejects the claim, saying the pressure of the infection makes it too risky.
– You cannot ignore that every 15 minutes someone enters a Paris hospital or that every 30 seconds a Parisian is infected, he says.
CLOSED: Cafe de Flore and other restaurants in France must remain closed due to the coronavirus. Photo: LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
Turns off
Last week, France announced several drastic measures to overcome the dramatic increase in infection.
It emerged on Wednesday that bars, restaurants, cafes and shops in France must close, when President Emmanuel Macron announced a new national closure. It will not be possible to travel between regions of France and the universities will have to remain closed.
Reuters writes that the French government is considering new measures for Paris, including an overnight curfew. This is considered for the entire Ile-De-France, the region around the capital.
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal says the curfew will begin at 9 p.m.
A record 52,518 new corona cases were reported Monday in France, and the number in hospitals increased by more than 1,000 for the fourth time in eight days. The death toll increased by 416.
Burst capacity
More than half of the beds in the intensive care unit in France are currently filled with COVID-19 patients, writes the Wall Street Journal.
In Paris, this applies to more than two-thirds of hospital beds.
“Today we know that no matter what we do, about 9,000 patients will be in the intensive care unit in mid-November, which corresponds to almost the entire capacity of France,” President Emmanuel Macron said last week.
Health Minister Veran warns that this year’s Christmas celebration will be different.
– There will be no normal Christmas celebration. But it will still be a celebration. We must hope the virus is still here, not for Christmas, but we must adapt, he says.
