“We have been in a phase of recrudescence of the epidemic, warned Jean Castex, during a government press briefing on August 27. The reproduction rate of the virus is above 1, which means the virus is gaining ground. We were down to 0.7 in May. We went back to 1.4. “
Departments in “red zone”
Seven new departments were classified in “red zone” or “active circulation of the virus” Sunday, September 6. The decree published in Official newspaper specifies that this concerns Corse-du-Sud, Haute-Corse, Côte-d’Or, North, Bas-Rhin, Seine-Maritime and Reunion.
These 7 departments are added to the 21 others already classified as “red zone”, namely Paris, Bouches-du-Rhône, Val-de-Marne, Seine-Saint-Denis, Hauts-de-Seine, l ‘Essonne, Yvelines, Val-d’Oise, Seine-et-Marne, Sarthe, Rhône, Gironde, Haute-Garonne, Hérault, Gard, Loiret, Vaucluse, Var, the Alpes-Maritimes, Guadeloupe and Martinique.
When a department goes into the red zone (also called “active virus circulation zone”), this means that the incidence rate exceeds 50 new cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 inhabitants in one week.
Concretely, this legal provision authorizes the prefects to take measures if the epidemic situation requires it. For example, they can prohibit the movement of people and vehicles, as well as access to public transport, in accordance with the law of July 9 on exiting the state of health emergency. But also temporarily close establishments open to the public, for example: bars, restaurants and theaters. Or even impose the wearing of a mask in public spaces.
“Raising the alarm signal doesn’t mean we’re in dire straits, as we were in March-April. (…) But now is the time to intervene because the growth of the epidemic can be exponential if we do not intervene “, Jean Castex said on August 27.
To avoid a generalized reconfinement, the Prime Minister explained the government’s strategy: “from reconfinement plans, territorial or more global, have been prepared. Our hospital system is ready for a possible new wave of patients (beds, masks, resuscitators, drugs, etc.). Without forgetting the triptych “test, trace, isolate” to break the transmission chains. The government’s objective is to propose 1 million tests per week in September. Finally, no strategy would be effective without the mobilization of the French to respect the “barrier” gestures. Wearing a mask, but not only. “We must continue to wash our hands regularly, and keep more than a meter away from each other when possible.”
Departments in “high” vigilance
Public Health France also defines two levels of vigilance. The level of vigilance “high” and the level of vigilance “moderate”. These indicators make it possible to have a more precise vision of the epidemic situation by department.
Concretely, they translate “at the same time viral circulation (the R) and the impact on the health of the population of the department “, explains Santé Publique France. It is calculated, in connection with the ARS, from all the indicators (resuscitation capacity, positivity rate of tests, incidence) and reports received, including cluster investigations, here it is a question of determining the capacity of a department to contain the epidemic. “For example, if clusters are identified and they are well contained, then it is a positive signal. On the other hand, if the chain of contamination is unknown, it means that the epidemic is not under control, c ‘is a negative signal “, explains to Top Health, the Ministry of Health.
We therefore find the 75 departments, in “moderate” or “high” vigilance. Here is the detail department by department as of September 4
38 departments in “moderate” vigilance:
- Ardèche,
- Ariège,
- Alpes de Haute Provence,
- Dawn,
- Aude,
- Aveyron,
- Bas-Rhin,
- Two Sevres,
- Dordogne,
- Doubs
- Drome,
- Eure-et-Loir,
- Gers,
- Haut-Rhin,
- Haute Loire,
- Haute Marne,
- High Pyrenees,
- Haute-Savoie,
- Haute Vienne,
- Indre and Loire,
- Landes,
- Lot and Garonne,
- Lozere,
- Marl,
- Mayenne,
- Mayotte,
- Meurthe and Moselle,
- Moselle,
- Morbihan,
- Oise,
- Meeting,
- Saône et Loire,
- Savoy,
- Seine Maritime,
- Sum,
- Tarn,
- Vienna,
- Yonne
37 departments with “high” vigilance:
- Ain,
- Alpes-Maritimes,
- Bouches-du-Rhône,
- Golden Coast,
- South Corsica and Haute-Corse
- Essonne,
- Gard,
- Gironde,
- Guyana,
- Haute Garonne,
- Hauts-de-Seine,
- Herault,
- Loiret,
- Ille-et-Vilaine,
- Isere,
- Loire,
- Loire Atlantique,
- Maine-et-Loire,
- North,
- Paris,
- Pas de Calais,
- Puy de Dome,
- Atlantic Pyrenees,
- Eastern Pyrenees,
- Rhône,
- Sarthe,
- Seine et Marne,
- Seine-Saint-Denis,
- Tarn-et-Garonne,
- Val de Marne,
- Val d’Oise,
- Var,
- Vaucluse,
- Yvelines
- Martinique
- Guadeloupe
