The first Frenchman to die after being infected with the new coronavirus, a 60-year-old teacher from a college in Crépy-en-Valois (Oise), did not stay in an "at risk" area , the director said on Wednesday. General of the Hauts-de-France Regional Health Agency.
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The deceased and another fifty-year-old patient hospitalized in Amiens "in serious condition" and also from Oise "had not gone to risk exposure areas , " said Etienne Champion during '' a press conference at the Beauvais prefecture. “This is why, at first, they were not identified as possible cases of coronavirus. The investigations are still underway (...) to determine the source of these two contaminations, " he said, indicating that a " crisis cell " had been " immediately set up " Tuesday evening in the Oise.
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Born in 1959, the teacher who died on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday at the Parisian hospital of La Pitié-Salpêtrière, "was on sick leave from February 12 inclusive and he has not attended his establishment since that date, "he added. Due to the incubation and onset of the disease, which is "14 days maximum", "only parents, adults and children, colleagues or parents of students who have been in contact with this person and whose symptoms - fever, cough, breathing difficulties - started between February 12 and February 25 inclusive and are invited to come forward on the 15th, ” said the ARS official.
For the prefect of Oise Louis le Franc, the "risk" of contamination of students or colleagues is today "ruled out" : "it is February 26, no one having reported as having symptoms (... ), there is every reason to believe that there are no longer any infected people , ”he told AFP. According to Stéphanie Dameron, rector of the academy of Amiens, the authorities must decide "within 24 hours" if the establishment of the deceased teacher will reopen as scheduled Monday, after school holidays.
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As for the other patient, a man born in 1965 and hospitalized "in serious condition" in the intensive care unit of the Amiens CHU, he also lives "in the Oise".
The crisis unit is currently working on " identifying the people with whom these two patients were in close contact , " added Mr. Champion, adding that the two had "previously stayed in other health establishments" , including patients and caregivers "are being evaluated" .
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