Not only Germany, Austria, Belgium. Also in France the Covid epidemic marks a very high number of infections, so much so as to push the Minister of Health to speak of a “fifth wave”. The epidemiological situation prompted Paris to launch the “let’s save the holidays” operation. Strengthening of social distancing, of Green pass and acceleration of the vaccination campaign: the three pillars of the French government campaign which will be announced Thursday in a press conference by the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, with the aim of “saving the holidays” threatened by what the French consider the fifth wave of infections, defined by the health authorities as “dazzling”.
Yesterday France registered 30,000 cases. “It is a very important increase in infections – commented the Minister of Health Olivier Véran – the demonstration that we are, and how, in a fifth epidemic wave“. The weekly average – considering that Santé Publique only quantified 5,260 cases yesterday – exceeded 20,000 infections per day. The incidence rate nationwide has reached 191 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, while in hospitals there are now 8,525 hospitalized for Covid, against 8,338 yesterday and 7,535 a week ago. Intensive care departments are also affected by the increase, with 1,455 serious cases against 1,406 yesterday and 1,277 last week. A total of 84 new deaths related to Covid-19 in the past 24 hours has brought the total death toll in France since the outbreak began to 118,600.
But not only. The number of classrooms in schools that have been closed has risen further in the last week and hit the record since the beginning of the school year in September. According to the Minister of Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, the number of closed classes it increased to 6,000 against the approximately 4,000 counted last Friday. These are, “in particular, elementary school classes in which we use salivary tests”, the minister specified, adding: “At the moment I speak to you, 6,000 classes are closed and I remember that last year, at the peak of epidemic, when we still managed to keep schools open, we were 12,000 closed classes ”. For France, this is a new negative record. Last Friday, the closed classes were 4,048, 0.8% of the country’s total. The previous record was on September 16, when 3,300 classes were left at home.
Within a week, the incidence rate of Sars Cov 2 coronavirus infections among children between the ages of 6 and 10 has multiplied by 2.5 and it is currently at 340 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants, against a national average for adults that stops at 191. Doctors insist on the need to vaccinate children: “We must ask ourselves the problem: it is also a way to prevent children from transmitting the virus to more fragile people, such as grandparents or people close to them, suffering from serious illnesses “, says Jean-Michel Molina, head of the infectious disease department of the Saint-Louis Hospital, which is part of the public consortium of university hospitals in the Paris area, quoted by Bfmtv.
Meanwhile, after the prime minister Jean Castex, was the Minister of Integration last night, Brigitte Klinkert, to announce its positivity to Covid-19. “Having no symptoms at the moment – said the minister, 65, via Twitter – I adapted my agenda so as to continue my activities in isolation”. Castex had a positive swab on Monday evening and complains of “mild symptoms”. Klienkert, who entered the government in July 2020, will remain like him in solitary confinement for 10 days. This second case in the French government comes while today the Defense Council must make decisions on the issue of the recall calendar, to be adapted to the spectacular acceleration of the epidemic in the country.