This Thursday, August 27, Jean Castex and Olivier Véran took stock of the health situation in the country. On the menu: progression of the virus, new departments classified as a red zone, resumption of activity, wearing a mask or even increasing the number of PCR tests.
- There is a sharp increase in the number of positive cases and a slight uptick in hospital and intensive care admissions which are “slowly but surely starting to go up”.
- Wearing a mask is becoming widespread for all enclosed spaces and will be made compulsory in Paris.
- The number of screening tests will be one million per week in September.
“living with the virus”, this is how, in one sentence, the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, summarizes the government’s action to deal with the health crisis. The virus is progressing with a reproduction rate of 1.4, proof of the resurgence of the epidemic since it was 0.7 last May. “The epidemic is regaining ground, and the time to intervene is now“, continues the Prime Minister.
The overall logic of our action could be summed up in one sentence: living with the virus.#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/bgsV1K3u0S
— Jean Castex (@JeanCASTEX) August 27, 2020
Generalized wearing of masks
This epidemic resumption is characterized by a sharp increase in the number of positive cases and a slight increase in hospital and intensive care admissions which “slowly but surely starting to rise”. There are around 3,000 new daily cases, compared to 1,000 when the lockdown was released. “Of course, these figures must be interpreted with caution, we are testing a lot more people. But this ramping up of tests does not explain everything: the percentage of positive people is increasing”, warns Jean Castex. On the front line are young people, especially those aged 20-30, who “present positive rates close to 6%, more than the national average.”
Coronavirus: “This virus circulates a lot among young people”, says Jean Castex. However “the number of hospitalizations is slowly but surely starting to go up”. This is not “an explosion, but a trend”
Follow our live https://t.co/5LLIoDCgY9 pic.twitter.com/3G98YGgQQK
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) August 27, 2020
Faced with this advance of the virus on our territory, the Prime Minister has placed 19 new departments in the red zone of active circulation of the virus, bringing the total to 21.We must equip ourselves with all the means to stop this progression and to protect ourselves”, he hammered. In these territories, the Prime Minister wants an adapted strategy “closer to the ground.” He took the example of Mayenne where the progression of the epidemic was slowed down thanks to the obligation to wear a mask in many cities during July. In the Bouches-du-Rhône, this action results in the closing of bars at 11 p.m. and the wearing of a mask is required. Similarly, in Paris, the mask will be required in the coming days.
[CARTE] In addition to Paris and Bouches-du-Rhône, 19 new departments are placed in the red zone, where the virus is actively circulating #COVID__19 > https://t.co/IC8D0IVEhN pic.twitter.com/ikZm7bJbCN
– The Parisian (@le_Parisian) August 27, 2020
One million tests per day in September
Regarding the wearing of the mask, the obligations are multiplying. Within companies and in higher education, it is now imposed. But it doesn’t stop there as it will be extended”in all closed spaces where there are several people”. Their freeness is not relevant according to Jean Castex, stressing that the government will continue to provide “free masks to our most modest citizens.” “We recently sent 50 million masks to 3 million modest and precarious families”, specifies the Prime Minister who adds that this operation will be renewed in October. These measures should notmake people forget to respect barrier gestures”, he adds.
#COVID19 | Schools, higher education, companies, frequented public spaces: I am reviewing our doctrine on wearing a mask, developed with the recommendations of the High Council for Public Health. pic.twitter.com/m5eYiZzob3
— Jean Castex (@JeanCASTEX) August 27, 2020
On the subject of tests, the government’s objective is to carry out one million a week in September, against 840,000 this last week. “We have managed to break the chains of transmission, of contamination“, welcomes Olivier Véran. The average time to get results is 24 hours for these PCR tests while tests are underway to study the reliability of saliva tests”in Guyana and Paris”.
Coronavirus: “Thanks to everyone’s efforts” 840,000 screening tests were carried out in one week, specifies Olivier Véran, “that is to say beyond our objectives”. The objective now is to reach 1 million tests per week, adds the Minister of Health pic.twitter.com/WXKXLP10Ly
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) August 27, 2020
Finally, if a large-scale epidemic recovery occurs, Jean Castex has announced that our country is ready. Our hospitals have 12,000 intensive care beds, i.e. “twice as many patients” than the maximum number reached in April. The drugs are present in stock in order to be “able to provide it to 29,000 patients.” “We have anticipated and secured our response capabilities, whether in terms of stocks of masks, gloves, medicines, respirators”, added Olivier Véran. If necessary, localized reconfinement plans would also be ready to be deployed, although the government wishes to avoid them as much as possible.
Recontainment plans, territorial or more global, have been prepared.
Our hospital system is ready for a possible new wave of patients (beds, masks, resuscitators, medicines…).
But we must do everything to avoid a general reconfinement. pic.twitter.com/YuuP3XlMOH— Jean Castex (@JeanCASTEX) August 27, 2020
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