The Minister of Health Olivier Véran announced that France had ordered “tens of thousands of doses of monoclonal antibodies from a higher generation”.
They are expected "in mid-March".
These synthetic antibodies are believed to support the immune system to neutralize the coronavirus.
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Jean Castex announced Thursday that 20 departments will be placed in "reinforced surveillance" and could follow the example of Nice and Dunkirk in the face of the epidemic rise due to the English variant of Covid-19.
During a press conference at 6:00 pm alongside the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, the Prime Minister adopted a serious tone to declare that "the health situation in our country has deteriorated".
He cited the 30,000 case reports on Wednesday, "a figure that we had not reached since November" 2020. The fault in particular of the English variant of the virus, which now represents "about half" of positive cases.
If Jean Castex has not announced any national confinement, that "everything must be done to delay", he decreed the placement in "reinforced surveillance" of 20 departments.
They cover all of Ile-de-France, the Rhône, Bouches-du-Rhône, Oise, Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Drôme, Moselle, Meurthe-et-Moselle or even the Eure-et-Loir.
