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Coronavirus: Government Wants To Win Overseas Battle

2020-03-20T11:46:24.391Z


Only Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Wallis and Futuna do not currently count any cases of Covid-19.


It is Friday March 20. All of France is suffering the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic ... Any? No! Thousands of kilometers from France, islands still resist Covid-19. Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon (Atlantic Ocean) and Wallis-and-Futuna (Pacific Ocean) are today the only French territories not to have cases of contamination.

Read also: LIVE - Coronavirus: closure of the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, planned curfew

The ten other overseas territories (Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Réunion, French Polynesia, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin and French Southern and Antarctic Territories) are affected by the virus. , but to a lesser extent than in mainland France: just over a hundred cases in total have been reported. New Caledonia, for example, was spared until a honeymooning couple tested positive on Wednesday morning ...

If in New Caledonia, the inhabitants are not yet obliged to stay at home, most of the overseas territories have passed into complete confinement, like the metropolis. The device of "state of health emergency ", authorized Wednesday by the government and under examination by the Parliament, will be well applied to them, announced the minister of Overseas Annick Girardin.

Read also: Coronavirus: towards the establishment of a "state of health emergency" in France

"The situation is the same as in mainland France," opined Brice *, who has lived in Martinique with his partner for almost three years. “Being isolated in the Antilles sun is no better or no worse than being confined to Paris. We can see that the weather is super nice, we only want to go to the beach, but we don't do it! Around us, some people think that the virus does not circulate here. But today, we are still in 32 confirmed cases for 360,000 inhabitants, "notes the young man.

Objective: slow the spread of the virus overseas

In Martinique as elsewhere, the Minister of Overseas intends to ensure that the situation does not deteriorate. Wednesday evening, during a press conference by internet - confinement requires -, it reaffirmed its primary objective: "to slow down as much as possible the spread of the Covid-19 virus in the overseas territories" to avoid that their "systems " do not undergo a " peak in attendance " . Only the overseas inhabitants currently in France will be "helped to return home" but will have to respect a "very strict fortnight" .

Annick Girardin asked the overseas residents of metropolitan France not to return to their territory of origin. "I ask them not to do it, because that is also how the virus will spread in the territories," she said. On the specific case of young overseas students studying in mainland France, she recalled that "all the Crous remained open" and that it was "preferable for everyone" for these students "to stay in France if the accommodation conditions are guarantees ” .

Read also: Coronavirus: Girardin asks the Ultramarins of mainland France not to return to Overseas

A recommendation in line with that of the press release published earlier this week. Monday, the Ministry of Overseas had been forced to crack a denial in the face of traffic on social networks of a news. "A false press release indicates that overseas students will be repatriated from March 22, 2020 to slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus. This information is false, no repatriation is planned at this stage, " said the ministry.

Annick Girardin nevertheless wished to recall that "despite trade reduced to the strict minimum" , it was essential that the overseas territories should not be "cut off from France ". Air links are therefore maintained, and for some, modified. Thus, flights from and to French Polynesia, which passed through the United States before the latter closed their borders to Europeans, now pass through Pointe-à-Pitre, in Guadeloupe. At the start of the week, a flight even connected Papeete to Paris nonstop: 15,700 kilometers in 16 hours.

* The first name has been changed

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-03-20

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