A third exodus.
At the entrance to Montparnasse station in Paris, Valentine, 23, is getting ready to board the train to meet her parents in Vannes (Morbihan) this Friday.
One example among others before the entry into force of confinement in Hauts-de-France, Ile-de-France and the former Haute-Normandie and Alpes-Maritimes.
“I had taken my ticket for Sunday, I brought it forward to Friday so that I could go to Brittany for a month, at least.
I imagine that all of my lessons will be distance learning, and no longer face-to-face every other week.
I did not see myself staying in my 20 m2 apartment in Paris, I prefer to take in the fresh air of the countryside, to play sports.
And it's easier to see my friends, no certificate, ”explains the student in master 2 in business school.
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The flight of Ile-de-France residents, at least those who can, to unconfined regions is confirmed by SNCF.
The trains to Brittany, the South-West or Lyon were all full this Friday morning, against 60 to 70% filling these last Fridays.
On the roads, the odometer showed more than 400 km of traffic jams around the capital this Friday afternoon, around 5:30 p.m.
Three times more than a “normal” Friday.
Axles like the A6 and A10, heading to the south of France, are unusually congested.
On social networks, some Internet users are already showing their dissatisfaction.
“The Parisians who land in Brittany and Normandy, I don't like you.
If we confine you, it is not to come to us just before.
We are going to type an increase in cases through your fault, ”worries All Yours on Twitter.
“It may be necessary to repeat the barrier gestures to Parisians, which are very popular and commonplace in Brittany.
There will be a fight to put on the masks.
People are afraid that the contamination rates will increase and that we will be confined in our turn ”, reports Sophie Pilato, manager of the Trimaran bar-tobacco in Brest (Finistère), where the incidence rate of the virus is among the highest. bottom of France.
"We are not going to start to panic because the Parisians are coming," relativizes Jean-Marc Peillex, the mayor of Saint-Gervais (Haute-Savoie).
If they respect health measures, social distancing, they are welcome.
If they arrive sick, it is worse.
"" My concern is more related to the behavior of people in relation to their fed up with bans, curfews, but it is true for Parisians as for the inhabitants of the region.
But I am serene.
We have space in the countryside to respect social distancing.
And the Covid-19 is no longer an unknown phenomenon that we no longer control at all ”, opines Jean-Pierre Maury, mayor of Romagne (Vienne).
The Pyrénées-Atlantiques have the lowest incidence rate in France
In Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), Mayor Maider Arostéguy estimates that the city's population will drop from 25,000 to 50,000 with arrivals due to this new confinement.
“We have been used to these population movements for a year.
But I do not understand why the government, once again, did not take immediate measures to interrupt travel between contaminated and non-contaminated regions.
It is not a question of falling into psychosis, of considering Parisians as plague victims;
you just have to stay vigilant.
"
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Because the department would like to keep the incidence rate of the virus the lowest in France.
“This influx, in a period of very high alert, will force the police to take extremely firm steps to enforce barrier gestures.
While the English variant begins to be present with us, we can no longer afford to be, as during the February holidays, in a mixed approach, more flexible, between pedagogy and verbalization.
"
"Many families will stay in Paris, because the schools remain open"
In Béarn, Valérie Revel, the mayor of Lescar (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), also a doctor in charge of the Covid-19 cell at the Pau hospital center, puts it into perspective: “it will be much less important than during the first two confinements.
Many families will stay in Paris because the schools remain open.
In addition, movement between regions was stopped a day earlier than during the measurements of last fall and spring.
People came to their families during the school holidays, and the incidence did not increase after that.
One year after the arrival of Covid-19, we can trust the sense of responsibility of all French people.
"