The Marseilles political class displayed its unity on Thursday morning in the face of the government's decision imposing since Wednesday evening the closure between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. of bars, restaurants and general food shops in all the Bouches-du-Rhône. The rupture was notified during a joint press conference by the left-ecology mayor of Marseille, Michèle Rubirola, and the LR president of the metropolis and the department, Martine Vassal, at the same time as that of Jean Castex in Paris. And a few hours before the visit of the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, in the Phocaean City. A spectacular step as the last municipal campaign was violent between the two women. The setting was not neutral either, in this case the amphitheater of the Institut hospitalo-universitaire (IHU) Méditerranée Infection, in the presence of Professor Didier Raoult.
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The infectious disease specialist opened the ball with the latest statistics on the evolution of the pandemic, announcing in passing that the IHU had just passed 3,000 tests per day. Among the many data identified, the origin of the patients is interesting: according to Didier Raoult, 60% of positive cases until mid-August did not live in the region. Another argument put forward by the head of the IHU: for an equal population, the statistics would place Paris significantly more in the red than Marseille and the Bouches-du-Rhône. The number of patients admitted to intensive care is 24.6% in the capital against 10.1% in the Phocaean city. The number of deaths linked to Covid would also be higher there, assures Raoult: 72 against 39.
Politicians then set in motion denouncing the "double standards" between Paris and Marseille and the partiality of the government. Leaving her text, Michèle Rubirola pointed to the Castex method: " The government has decided from Paris what would be good for our city, without engaging in the necessary dialogue with elected officials, and above all without giving us the means to enforce decisions. which are his. " Martine Vassal joined forces with her former opponent at the town hall, stressing that we can have marked political differences but that "in difficult times, you have to know how to stick together" . The president of the department also regretted "the lack of consultation" with the government and mentioned the small towns where the virus does not circulate. "This decision will have consequences on the employment and the turnover of private restaurants of the second service", she warned. And to conclude on the thousands of tourists successfully welcomed during the summer, in strict compliance with health rules. "But in Marseille, nothing helps, we are always shown as the bad little ducks ..."
The wearing of the obligatory mask on the other hand is not debated. Town hall, metropolis and department are launching a joint communication campaign - again a first - on the need to carry it. The masks will be distributed by the thousands to schoolchildren, college and high school students on the occasion of the start of the school year.