Pas-de-Calais will be the only new department to confine its population on weekends.
According to our information, the government, which is to announce a series of new measures Thursday at 6 p.m., does not intend to confine other departments.
"
A national confinement or the weekend is for us only a last resort
", also explained to AFP a government source.
To read also: Covid-19: will we not be able to "end this virus" by the end of the year?
In Pas-de-Calais, the figures for the epidemic are not good.
The department prances to the top of the incidence rate ranking.
406.2 cases have so far been recorded per 100,000 inhabitants, well above the maximum alert threshold set at 250 by the health authorities.
It is the 2nd highest incidence rate in mainland France, the 4th including the overseas territories.
In addition, the hospitals of the department are on the verge of saturation: the department has 128 people in intensive care (6th place) including 13 new entrants.
Read also: Alpes-Maritimes, Dunkirk: what is prohibited, what remains authorized on weekends due to the Covid
The Pas-de-Calais incidence rate is the 2nd highest incidence rate in mainland France Le Figaro infographic service
"Two weights, two measures"?
The choice to confine for the next three weekends also responds to the request of elected officials who were the first to demand strong measures.
"
I am in favor of it, there is no other way out, then we will see the figures and if it is sufficient because it is a very mysterious virus.
I am Cartesian, I do not see other solutions,
”said Jean-Marie Truffier, mayor of Marœuil in Pas-de-Calais.
Natacha Bouchart, LR mayor of Calais shares this opinion: ""
The elected representatives, in a majority way, considered that the incidence rate, the percentage of circulation of the English variant, the pressure on hospitals and the lack of vaccines could not get to a containment device
, ”she says.
"
We will assume, but not with joy, to protect our fellow citizens,
" she added.
However, many elected officials do not understand that these difficult measures apply to Pas-de-Calais but not to Île-de-France, or to the neighboring North, which are also very hard hit.
LR mayor of Le Touquet, Daniel Fasquelle, denounced Wednesday evening on BFMTV "
a breach of equality
" and a policy of "
double standards
" against these other departments.
"
We have the same incidence rate as certain departments of Île-de-France and we are forced to be confined in Pas-de-Calais, whereas, on the grounds that it would displease the populations, it is not imposed on us. Paris and its region.
It is an amazement
"
,
he continues.
Better than the Alpes-Maritimes, comparable to Seine-Saint-Denis
The department remains well below the figures observed in the Alpes-Maritimes or Dunkirk, the two territories whose population has been reconfined on weekends in recent weeks.
In the Alpes-Maritimes the incidence rate is 563.19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, in Dunkirk it climbs to 1,039 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Figures much larger than those observed in Pas-de-Calais in recent days (406.2 per 100,000 inhabitants).
In fact, if we compare the figures for Pas-de-Calais with those for Seine-Saint-Denis in Île-de-France, the figures are comparable for the incidence rate or for the number of beds occupied per 100,000 inhabitants. .
One difference remains notable: the Pas-de-Calais is more strained in its intensive care services: the department receives 128 patients in intensive care, against 109 in Seine-Saint-Denis.
To cope, elected officials are demanding more vaccines in return.
"
We are making this effort for three weekends but we want our due for vaccines
", claimed the LR mayor of Calais Nathalie Bouchart, believing that the department had been "
under-staffed
".
An opinion shared by Jean-Marie Truffier the mayor of Marœuil: “
I am faced with the difficulty of obtaining vaccines.
People are telephoning everywhere, but there is a big problem, we cannot vaccinate everyone, far from it.
"
