Authorities are speeding up preparations to try to mitigate the magnitude of the coming epidemic peak, and limit contamination of the most vulnerable populations as a priority. The latest assessment released on Wednesday evening by the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, confirms the concerns: 2281 cases diagnosed by tests since the end of January, 500 more than the day before. Fifteen new deaths have been recorded, bringing the total death toll to 48.
The Ministry of Health has therefore announced the strengthening of measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in residential care facilities for the elderly. In nursing homes and long-term care units (LTCUs), all visits from people outside the establishment are suspended until further notice. In “independent residences”, these visits are “strongly discouraged ”. Exceptions may be decided on a case-by-case basis, the ministry added. The decision will be left to the discretion of the school director.
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For the hundreds of thousands of people living in nursing homes, the next few weeks will be long, but crucial. "I am aware of the isolation that this represents," admitted Olivier Véran. But this decision was inevitable, at a time when the epidemic - now officially considered as a pandemic by the World Health Organization - is spreading at an increasingly fast pace in the territory. Especially when you know that 33 of the 48 people who died were over 75 and that we can expect an increase in the number of serious cases in the days and weeks to come.
Several contaminations
During a visit to a Parisian retirement home last Friday, President Emmanuel Macron called for "limiting visits as much as possible" to seniors. In the process, the Minister of Health had asked retirement homes to trigger their " blue plan", a device for maximum mobilization to requisition staff and providing for measures to restrict visits to residents. In the private establishments of the Korian or Orpea groups, visits had already been prohibited for several days except "special situation" or "exceptional authorization" . These partial restrictions were not enough, however: several cases of contamination were reported in retirement homes in France. The city of Louveciennes, in the Yvelines, announced Tuesday the death of two residents of Ehpad.
The oldest are not the only ones affected by the measures taken on Wednesday: in Corsica, which has become a hotbed of contamination, the prefecture has announced the closure of all schools until March 29. "Additional measures, including the rallies, will be taken during the day" on Thursday, added the prefecture in a statement. Ditto east of Montpellier, where sixteen municipalities will also close their crèches and their educational establishments.