Covid-19: tightened restrictions in the Doubs in the face of the "meteoric" growth of foreign variants

Concern in the Doubs, where the prefecture announced on Thursday the tightening of health measures in four municipalities of the department, including Besançon, and a massive screening campaign after noting a "dazzling" growth of foreign variants of Covid-19, especially in the south - African and Brazilian.

After consultation with local elected officials, the prefect of Doubs Joël Mathurin decided that wearing a mask would be made compulsory throughout the city of Besançon, and no longer only in the city center, as well as in the municipalities of Saint -Vit, Quingey and Montferrand-le-Château.

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A massive campaign of tests will also be carried out in schools in these municipalities where several cases of the South African and Brazilian variant have appeared, leading to the closure of several middle and high school classes.

"There is a dazzling growth in the proportion of foreign variants (English, South African, Brazilian) among positive cases for Covid-19", notes the prefecture.

The English variant is almost in the majority in the department and "the South African and Brazilian variants now represent 8% of Covid-19 cases in the Doubs department, two points more than at the national level and five points more than 'in Burgundy-Franche-Comté'.

#COVID ー 19 Faced with variants, an action plan has been put in place for Greater Besançon and its surroundings.

It provides for increased screening and an extension of the obligation to wear a mask.

Find the press release here 👇https: //t.co/fZky1xc3xe

- Prefect of Doubs (@ Prefet25) March 4, 2021

These variants "expose us to the risk of seeing the health situation worsen in the coming weeks, to the point of no longer controlling the influx of patients into hospital services already under strain", continues the prefecture.

The latter "remains extremely attentive to the progression of the incidence rate" and "plans to further tighten health measures" if the incidence rate were to exceed 250 per 100,000 inhabitants, which could happen "as early as next week. ".

After continuously falling for three weeks, the incidence rate is on the rise again in the Doubs department, where it stood at 205 per 100,000 inhabitants on Wednesday, with "more than 10 points per day", she adds.