Covid-19: clusters in 22 campsites in Vendée

Even in outdoor accommodation, vacationers are not immune from Covid-19.

Thursday, the Regional Health Agency of Pays de la Loire announced that 22 outbreaks of contamination had been detected in 22 campsites in Vendée.

In these campsites in the Saint-Jean-de-Monts and Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez sectors, 89 cases of Covid-19 have been identified: 62 activity leaders and 27 holidaymakers.

"Contaminated people are often seasonal workers,

who are often young audiences, not vaccinated and who meet to party after their day's work.

»Explains Josselin Vincent, head of health monitoring at ARS Pays de la Loire, France Bleu Vendée.

Coastal areas like Vendée particularly affected by the fourth wave

For the moment, the presentation of the sanitary pass is not compulsory to sleep at the campsite ... But it is to access the theaters, swimming pools, and restaurants of these campsites.

Holidaymakers are checked on their arrival at the campsite, only once.

While the National Federation of Outdoor Hotels (FNHPA) is worried about the cancellation of reservations that could result from the extension of the sanitary pass, some campsites are able to hold out, thanks to the resumption of tourism this summer.

Monday, the incidence rate in Vendée was 83.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, constantly increasing for two weeks.

"We have never seen such a rapid increase," said Jean-Jacques Coiplet, director of the regional health agency of Pays-de-la-Loire, according to 20 Minutes.

The number of Covid-19 cases has increased sharply in France in recent weeks, to the point that the government is talking about a “fourth wave”.

Coastal departments such as Vendée are particularly affected, for several reasons.

Tourism leads to a greater mixing of populations, but these are also areas that have been relatively untouched by Covid-19 so far, and where “natural immunity” remains limited.