Paris: number of coronavirus cases doubled in 24 hours

The number of cases is increasing and the "rhythm" of contamination is accelerating! This Thursday morning, Anne Hidalgo indicated on the France Inter antenna that the number of coronavirus patients identified in Paris was doubled in the space of a day. To reach… 84 cases at the start of the day on March 12.

44 cases Wednesday

The ARS (Regional Health Agency), which publishes a daily report on the number of proven infections, confirmed these figures and this rate of progression. Wednesday evening at 22 hours, the Ile-de-France health authority recorded 80 positive cases in the capital against "only" 44 the day before at the same time.

This doubling of the number of patients in the space of a day, however, seems to be a Parisian specificity. Across Ile-de-France as a whole, where 526 cases were recorded on Wednesday evening, the rate of increase in the number of contamination has remained below 25% for the past 24 hours.

"Very difficult to have consolidated figures"

"However, it is very difficult to have consolidated figures at time T," said one to the ARS. "First, because the balance sheets are increasing quickly. But also because the administrative tools and complex procedures for reporting data on proven patients are not adapted to the emergency, ”recognizes the organization.

Clearly, it may take several hours between confirmation (by the laboratories that perform the tests) of contamination with Covid-19 and identification of the environment of the patient concerned. So this Thursday morning, the home of almost a fifth of the 500 or so patients identified in Ile-de-France remained to be determined.

Tolbiac College, closed

Another worrying fact: the number of cases of actual contamination could be much higher than that which is transmitted in real time to the health authorities. "When a person who calls 15 does not have severe symptoms, they are advised to stay at home, wear a mask to protect their loved ones ... and to call back if their state of health deteriorates. But there are no systematic tests, ”we note to the ARS, stressing that positive cases certainly go“ under the radar ”.

What justify, according to specialists, the drastic increase in prevention measures decided on Wednesday evening. Like the total ban on visits (which until then were only strongly discouraged) in nursing homes whose residents, very old, are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19.

This Thursday morning, after the confirmation of a case with a teacher from the university of Tolbiac, the approximately 11,000 people present in the university building of the XIIIth arrondissement were evacuated in emergency. The site was then closed… until further notice.