Faced with the deterioration of the health situation, the prefect of Guadeloupe, Alexandre Rochatte, announced a
“hardening”
of the confinement of Guadeloupe.
"From now on, everyone must stay at home for the next three weeks except for essential travel
," he added.
"We will exceed the 2,000 daily positive cases, it's unheard of,
he lamented.
It's the worst than what we experienced at the worst of the second wave. "
To discover
Covid-19: what we know about the Delta variant
Read also: Covid-19: a catastrophic situation overseas and very tense in the south of France
Stricter rules, similar to those in neighboring Martinique, will be put in place compared to the containment put in place on August 4.
The free movement zone will thus be reduced to five kilometers around the home, instead of 10 km, from Friday 7 p.m.
Beyond that, you will need a certificate to justify your trips to, for example, go shopping, go to a doctor, to a vaccination center or to places of worship, which will remain open.
The curfew will be extended and will start at 7 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. and until 5 a.m.
Shops closed, curfew widened, no lockers for tourists
In addition to restaurants already closed, businesses will also have to close their doors, excluding so-called
“essential” businesses
such as food businesses, food shelves in supermarkets, pharmacies, opticians, gardening and DIY stores, food stores. computer and telephony and auto workshops and fuel distribution stores.
"All other businesses will have to close administratively from Monday 7 p.m., and for three weeks until September 1 inclusive."
leisure and cultural venues will also be closed. The only public establishments which may remain open are those intended in particular for minors, such as day centers or nurseries. Demonstrations on public roads are prohibited except protest demonstrations. The beaches will remain authorized for sporting activities and prohibited for non-dynamic activities, within 5 km.
"You can only have swimming and sports activities and if I see that we do not succeed, we will close them this weekend,"
said the prefect. The places of worship will remain open but the gauge will be reduced and the wearing of a mask is compulsory, including for choirs.
To read also: Martinique: early return, reimbursement ... What should tourists do following the announcements of containment
Unlike Martinique, the prefect indicated that he did not wish to
“give instructions to tourists”
even if he thought
“that considering a tourist trip to Guadeloupe in the following three weeks does not seem very relevant to me. For the tourists present, I do not want them to leave Guadeloupe immediately. They can however see with companies and hotels more early departures ”.
Teleworking is also to be encouraged for companies.
"We must break the dynamic otherwise I do not know how we are going to absorb the patients in the hospital,
" alerted the prefect.
Already today I do not know how we are going to manage to absorb these patients ”.
An incidence rate greater than 1900 per 100,000 inhabitants
The government had already indicated earlier in the day, at the end of a new Health Defense Council, its intention to reconfigure the territory.
"Never on French territory, we had reached such levels of incidence"
as those currently known in Martinique and Guadeloupe, had thus underlined Gabriel Attal.
These measures are
"a vital necessity"
to
"stop the circulation of the virus as quickly as possible,"
the government spokesman added.
In Guadeloupe, the incidence rate exceeded 1900 per 100,000 inhabitants on Wednesday evening.
47 patients were in intensive care, up from 11 a month earlier.
At the opening of the Health Defense Council by videoconference from Fort Brégançon (Var), Emmanuel Macron warned of the
"dramatic situation"
of the epidemic in the West Indies, where
"the increase in contamination is reflected in an explosion of severe forms ”
of Covid-19 and saturation of hospitals.
"An emergency scenario is now before us"
, this situation
"implies the unconditional solidarity of the nation"
and offers
"the cruel demonstration"
that
"vaccination is the most effective means" in the
face of the virus, underlined the head of state.
“The population is not sufficiently vaccinated,
added Wednesday evening the Minister of Overseas, Sébastien Lecornu on BFMTV,
98% of hospitalized patients are not vaccinated ”.
