"We will end up closing services, we will not be able to hold out for long," warns Francisque Vigouroux, president of the Union of Mayors of Essonne (UME) and aedile (Les Radicale centristes) of Igny.
He calls for vaccination for agents in contact with the public, especially children and the elderly, but also for teachers.
"We have an explosion in the number of contact or positive cases for Covid-19 among municipal staff," he said.
READ ALSO>
Covid-19: Pfizer and Moderna vaccines soon injected in pharmacies
Francisque Vigouroux sent this Friday evening to the prefect of Essonne the results of an express survey sent to the 194 municipalities of the department on the same day.
“In a few hours, more than 80 mayors responded,” he explains.
In villages and small towns, it remains manageable.
But the more important the cities, with large structures, the more the hecatomb.
"
He is far from being the only one to sound the alarm bells.
His colleague from Les Ulis, Clovis Cassan (PS), relays the appeal of the Association of Mayors of Ile-de-France (Amif) which is mobilizing to convince the government "to extend the vaccination campaign to the whole staff from early childhood structures ”, as the Spaniards and Germans do.
#vaccination #COVID ー 19 The multiplication of cases of positivity in municipal services is becoming worrying.
The maintenance of the public service for our inhabitants is posed in the schools, the centers of leisures, canteens ... It is necessary the public agents to be vaccinated quickly.
- Francisque Vigouroux (@FrVigouroux) March 23, 2021
"We are approached by a large number of mayors in the Ile-de-France region", testifies Stéphane Beaudet, the president of Amif and mayor (without label) of Evry-Courcouronnes, who had to resolve to take a decree on Friday evening to "close until" see you again, the Mousseau nursery school ”.
"It is a heavy decision but taken in consciousness," he explains.
I am aware of the discontent that this situation will generate.
I will always place above all consideration the health of the public for which I am responsible: children in primary schools and municipal officials.
Faced with the surge in positive cases, it is my responsibility as a guarantor of public health in my municipality and as an employer of municipal agents.
"
Give priority to "early childhood staff"
For Amif, "the vaccination of early childhood staff must therefore absolutely be prioritized, for those who supervise a very young audience: childminders, nursery staff, day nurseries, etc."
Francisque Vigouroux insists: “The multiplication of cases of positivity in municipal services is becoming worrying.
The maintenance of the public service for our inhabitants is threatened in schools, recreation centers, canteens ... Public officials must be vaccinated quickly, now that the over 75s in the living area are mostly vaccinated thanks to our mutual vaccination center.
In Igny, for example, we had to close a leisure center from March 15 to 19 because we no longer had sufficient staff.
"
Newsletter The essential of 91
A tour of the news of Essonne and Île-de-France
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
At the end of last week, the mayor of this town of 9,744 inhabitants counted "about twenty declared cases or contact cases" among municipal officials.
"It's becoming massive, it's even madness for a fortnight, ensures the elected.
If we want to put a stop to it, we have to re-define.
The proposal of Valérie Pécresse (
Editor's note: president of the regional council
) to advance the Easter holidays to the beginning of April deserves to be studied.
In any case, we are not going to be able to continue like this, we are headed for disaster.
"
"The month of April promises to be problematic"
"This is a concrete and reasonable proposal," said the mayor of Massy, Nicolas Samsoen (UDI).
I have to protect my agents.
And if in the medium term I am optimistic thanks to the vaccination, in the short term I am very pessimistic, with April promising to be problematic.
"
Last weekend, the city had no municipal police for three days.
And on the meridian breaks, “the rate of supervision of the children has been bad on 0.2% of the receptions, since the beginning of the year and strained on 3% of the situations.
It's content, but it's already too much, ”considers the elected official.
Sandrine Gelot, mayor (LR) of Longjumeau, also testified in a video published on Friday that "being able to ensure the continuity of public service is complicated" and speaks of an "extremely tense situation in schools".
"The organizers of extracurricular activities, the Atsem (
Editor's note: regional agents specializing in nursery schools
), maintenance and catering agents have also been on the front line for a year, they are mobilized, they are also sick, absent", recalls the chosen one.