The worst heatwave that Greece has known in nearly thirty years could come to an end, leading, hope the authorities and the Greek people, to the end of the devastating fires which have been burning the country for two weeks.
The first rains fell Thursday, August 12, in some of the most damaged regions, such as the island of Euboea and the Peloponnese. The temperature, which has hovered around 40 ° C over much of the country, with peaks of 45 ° C, is expected to drop to 34 ° C maximum during the day in Athens, according to local weather services.
For two weeks, the scorching summer and drought have fueled more than 580 fires in just over a week, according to the Greek government. More than 100,000 hectares of forests, olive groves and pine forests burned from July 29 to August 12, a record since the 2007 fires that ravaged several regions of the country, according to data from the European Fire Information System of forests (Effis). Since the start of the year, nearly 114,300 hectares have disappeared, compared to an average of 9,600 over the period from 2008 to 2020.
Outbreaks persist
The start of the lull in temperatures should not obscure the fact that several fires remained active, in particular on the island of Euboea, the second largest in Greece. Since August 3, flames have ravaged forests, burning houses and animals, forcing thousands of people to flee by boat. Three people were killed in these fires.
More than half of the areas burned this year in Greece were on the island of Evia. More than 850 firefighters are still mobilized there and “The fire fronts are still active”, according to a person in charge of the services of firefighters, quoted by AFP.
Other outbreaks are also reported in Arcadia, Messinia and Mani, in the Peloponnese and in Aspropyrgos, an industrial zone about thirty kilometers west of Athens.
Effis forecasts suggest that “Forest fires will persist as long as there is no significant rains”, at least until August 17, predicted Thomas Smith, professor of geography at the London School of Economics.
“The entire ecosystem is destroyed”
When the flames are gone, the Greek people will contemplate the damage caused by what Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called “A huge ecological disaster”. In Evia, “The entire ecosystem is destroyed”, for example, was alarmed an official of the Red Cross, Dimitris Haliotis.
Authorities, both local and national, have been criticized for their slowness and unpreparedness. Mr. Mitsotakis, who even asked for forgiveness for “Possible errors”, promised aid of 500 million euros to help the victims and more than 220 million euros for reforestation.
Speaking on Thursday, the Greek Prime Minister attributed the fires to global warming, which ” is here “, and insisted that it was not “Not from a Greek phenomenon”, citing Turkey, Italy and Algeria, where huge fires are currently burning.
The worst heatwave that Greece has known in nearly thirty years could come to an end, leading, hope the authorities and the Greek people, to the end of the devastating fires which have been burning the country for two weeks.
The first rains fell Thursday, August 12, in some of the most damaged regions, such as the island of Euboea and the Peloponnese. The temperature, which has hovered around 40 ° C over much of the country, with peaks of 45 ° C, is expected to drop to 34 ° C maximum during the day in Athens, according to local weather services.
For two weeks, the scorching summer and drought have fueled more than 580 fires in just over a week, according to the Greek government. More than 100,000 hectares of forests, olive groves and pine forests burned from July 29 to August 12, a record since the 2007 fires that ravaged several regions of the country, according to data from the European Fire Information System of forests (Effis). Since the start of the year, nearly 114,300 hectares have disappeared, compared to an average of 9,600 over the period from 2008 to 2020.
Outbreaks persist
The start of the lull in temperatures should not obscure the fact that several fires remained active, in particular on the island of Euboea, the second largest in Greece. Since August 3, flames have ravaged forests, burning houses and animals, forcing thousands of people to flee by boat. Three people were killed in these fires.
More than half of the areas burned this year in Greece were on the island of Evia. More than 850 firefighters are still mobilized there and “The fire fronts are still active”, according to a person in charge of the services of firefighters, quoted by AFP.
Other outbreaks are also reported in Arcadia, Messinia and Mani, in the Peloponnese and in Aspropyrgos, an industrial zone about thirty kilometers west of Athens.
Effis forecasts suggest that “Forest fires will persist as long as there is no significant rains”, at least until August 17, predicted Thomas Smith, professor of geography at the London School of Economics.
“The entire ecosystem is destroyed”
When the flames are gone, the Greek people will contemplate the damage caused by what Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called “A huge ecological disaster”. In Evia, “The entire ecosystem is destroyed”, for example, was alarmed an official of the Red Cross, Dimitris Haliotis.
Authorities, both local and national, have been criticized for their slowness and unpreparedness. Mr. Mitsotakis, who even asked for forgiveness for “Possible errors”, promised aid of 500 million euros to help the victims and more than 220 million euros for reforestation.
Speaking on Thursday, the Greek Prime Minister attributed the fires to global warming, which ” is here “, and insisted that it was not “Not from a Greek phenomenon”, citing Turkey, Italy and Algeria, where huge fires are currently burning.
A cottony calm reigns in the emergency departments of the Saint-Augustin clinic in Tunis. A woman dozes in a seat while waiting for her consultation. There is no crowd at the reception. The scene offers a curious contrast to the images of public hospitals overwhelmed by the explosion of Covid-19 cases that have circulated in Tunisia over the past three weeks. But the clinic is not empty for all that.
To assist public establishments forced to postpone certain operations in order to take care of the sick, the management of Saint-Augustin offered patients in need two days of free consultations and surgical operations, on August 2 and 3. “It was a way to participate and maybe also to encourage the rest of the private sector to take initiatives”, explains Dr. Chafik Smida.
Since the start of the pandemic, many Tunisians have criticized private health establishments for having left the public hospital system to face the waves of coronavirus contamination alone. “We clearly weren’t up to the task”, acknowledges Chafik Smida, who believes, however, that the responsibilities are shared with the Ministry of Health. As of August 12, 21,220 deaths from Covid have been recorded in Tunisia, for a positivity rate of 23%.
Circumcisions and amputations
At the Saint-Augustin clinic, 42 people were hospitalized at the peak of the Covid-19 wave in July. They are now only a fortnight, a decline that has allowed Dr. Chafik Smida to devote himself to patients who have come for free operation.
First step, the boys just circumcised, recognizable by their «Jebba» (traditional dress) and their feet dyed with henna. “Many had delayed the operation because of the Covid: they did not want to take the risk of taking their children to hospitals with the virus”, explains the doctor. Amel Bouali, 36, from the popular Hay Ettadhamen district in Tunis, came to have her son circumcised. “I saw the announcement of the clinic on Facebook, at first I couldn’t believe it, but when we arrived we were fully taken care of”, she says.
In an adjoining room, Nacer Zoubeir is lying down, his wife at his bedside. He had his leg amputated because of an arteritis that had not been treated. “I live in the southern suburbs of El-Mourouj, usually I follow up at the Rabta [un des hôpitaux de Tunis], but at the moment it’s complicated to plan an operation, there are too many people ”, he explains. “I hope that in Saint-Augustin, they will also help us with medication and follow-up”, worries for its part Malika Arbi, 56 years old, mother of five children, came to be operated for a hernia.
In total, nearly forty patients were hospitalized free of charge in early August in Saint-Augustin. And Chafik Smida hopes his initiative will give new impetus to the previously difficult collaboration between the health ministry and the private sector. “I had proposed during the first wave that each clinic put two resuscitation beds at the disposal of the ministry, to avoid the scenes which we witnessed afterwards when the peak arrived, that is to say ambulances which turn. desperately looking for places for intensive care patients ”, he said. But discussions with the authorities were unsuccessful.
Nine clinics requisitioned
A communication that the political situation has not helped to improve: five ministers of health have followed one another in Tunisia since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. The government finally requested the requisition of nine clinics on July 18, when the lack of oxygen has reached a critical threshold in hospitals.
“We were able to make this requisition in the Sahel region, Sfax and Greater Tunis, but it did not last long. It was only about fifteen patients treated for about four days, because then many hospitals were able to receive oxygen thanks to international mobilization and donations ”, observes Boubaker Zakhama, president of the private clinics union.
A late action that should be better anticipated in the future, according to Chafik Smida. At the height of the epidemic, he himself had to manage an occupancy rate of almost 80% of the beds in the intensive care unit of his clinic.
Currently, the country is still facing a large number of cases but is accelerating its vaccination campaign, with nearly 5 million doses received in a few weeks thanks to foreign donations and bilateral agreements. The vaccination campaign for those over 40, on August 8, was a success, with 500,000 people vaccinated in one day, or 4% of the population. A new campaign is planned for August 15 for 18-39 year olds.
A cottony calm reigns in the emergency departments of the Saint-Augustin clinic in Tunis. A woman dozes in a seat while waiting for her consultation. There is no crowd at the reception. The scene offers a curious contrast to the images of public hospitals overwhelmed by the explosion of Covid-19 cases that have circulated in Tunisia over the past three weeks. But the clinic is not empty for all that.
To assist public establishments forced to postpone certain operations in order to take care of the sick, the management of Saint-Augustin offered patients in need two days of free consultations and surgical operations, on August 2 and 3. “It was a way to participate and maybe also to encourage the rest of the private sector to take initiatives”, explains Dr. Chafik Smida.
Since the start of the pandemic, many Tunisians have criticized private health establishments for having left the public hospital system to face the waves of coronavirus contamination alone. “We clearly weren’t up to the task”, acknowledges Chafik Smida, who believes, however, that the responsibilities are shared with the Ministry of Health. As of August 12, 21,220 deaths from Covid have been recorded in Tunisia, for a positivity rate of 23%.
Circumcisions and amputations
At the Saint-Augustin clinic, 42 people were hospitalized at the peak of the Covid-19 wave in July. They are now only a fortnight, a decline that has allowed Dr. Chafik Smida to devote himself to patients who have come for free operation.
First step, the boys just circumcised, recognizable by their «Jebba» (traditional dress) and their feet dyed with henna. “Many had delayed the operation because of the Covid: they did not want to take the risk of taking their children to hospitals with the virus”, explains the doctor. Amel Bouali, 36, from the popular Hay Ettadhamen district in Tunis, came to have her son circumcised. “I saw the announcement of the clinic on Facebook, at first I couldn’t believe it, but when we arrived we were fully taken care of”, she says.
In an adjoining room, Nacer Zoubeir is lying down, his wife at his bedside. He had his leg amputated because of an arteritis that had not been treated. “I live in the southern suburbs of El-Mourouj, usually I follow up at the Rabta [un des hôpitaux de Tunis], but at the moment it’s complicated to plan an operation, there are too many people ”, he explains. “I hope that in Saint-Augustin, they will also help us with medication and follow-up”, worries for its part Malika Arbi, 56 years old, mother of five children, came to be operated for a hernia.
In total, nearly forty patients were hospitalized free of charge in early August in Saint-Augustin. And Chafik Smida hopes his initiative will give new impetus to the previously difficult collaboration between the health ministry and the private sector. “I had proposed during the first wave that each clinic put two resuscitation beds at the disposal of the ministry, to avoid the scenes which we witnessed afterwards when the peak arrived, that is to say ambulances which turn. desperately looking for places for intensive care patients ”, he said. But discussions with the authorities were unsuccessful.
Nine clinics requisitioned
A communication that the political situation has not helped to improve: five ministers of health have followed one another in Tunisia since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. The government finally requested the requisition of nine clinics on July 18, when the lack of oxygen has reached a critical threshold in hospitals.
“We were able to make this requisition in the Sahel region, Sfax and Greater Tunis, but it did not last long. It was only about fifteen patients treated for about four days, because then many hospitals were able to receive oxygen thanks to international mobilization and donations ”, observes Boubaker Zakhama, president of the private clinics union.
A late action that should be better anticipated in the future, according to Chafik Smida. At the height of the epidemic, he himself had to manage an occupancy rate of almost 80% of the beds in the intensive care unit of his clinic.
Currently, the country is still facing a large number of cases but is accelerating its vaccination campaign, with nearly 5 million doses received in a few weeks thanks to foreign donations and bilateral agreements. The vaccination campaign for those over 40, on August 8, was a success, with 500,000 people vaccinated in one day, or 4% of the population. A new campaign is planned for August 15 for 18-39 year olds.
“I am overwhelmed by what I saw today. ” The Minister for Overseas Affairs, Sébastien Lecornu, invited Thursday August 12 on France Inter, described a catastrophic situation within the Guadeloupe hospital system, where the proliferation of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 precipitated the establishment of a « confinement strict » and the extension of the curfew from Friday for three weeks.
“We have an incidence rate in Guadeloupe which is 1,900 patients per 100,000 inhabitants. This is a rate that has never been known since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic ”, he said after going there, adding that the positivity rate is around 25%. “Concretely, that means that you have one in four PCR tests that are positive. ” According to the local regional health agency (ARS), 17 people died from Covid-19 this week on the island.
. @ SebLecornu: “The incidence rate in Guadeloupe is 1900 patients per 100,000 inhabitants. We have never known this… https://t.co/MUpLFlhgcG
The situation is explained, in addition to the high contagiousness of the Delta variant, by the relaxation of barrier gestures and, above all, low vaccination coverage, according to the minister. In Guadeloupe and Martinique, where containment has been in effect since Tuesday, barely 21% of the population has received a dose, against more than 63% in metropolitan France, according to the latest figures from Public Health France. This figure is 41.8% in Reunion and 21.3% in Guyana.
“The doctors tell me that the situation is extremely difficult, and that basically it is not a problem of reinforcements”, explained Mr. Lecornu.
“This is a peak problem of this epidemic. A lot of patients, all unvaccinated, present at the same time to the hospital (…). We are back to the technique of confinement: the saturation and the risk of congestion in the hospital are such that confinement remains the short-term emergency solution. »
According to Mr Lecornu, the island currently has 67 resuscitation beds, up from 27 “In normal times”. The government hopes to put in place “Between 100 and 130”. “The situation is unprecedented in its magnitude, it exceeds anything we could have imagined. We must increase our efforts to open additional resuscitation beds ”, abounds Marc Valette, the head of the intensive care unit of the CHU of Pointe-à-Pitre.
In his service, “Out of 55 [lits de réanimation], 44 are for Covid patients, and they are all full, we are at saturation point ”. In other words, to get someone into intensive care, someone else will have to get out. “Either because he is better, or because, unfortunately, he dies”, testifies the head of department.
A “cruel demonstration” that “vaccination is the most effective means”, according to Emmanuel Macron
The health defense council of August 11 had already been an opportunity for Emmanuel Macron to reiterate his call for vaccination. According to the head of state, the “Emergency scenario” looming in the West Indies is “The cruel demonstration” that “Vaccination is the most effective means” against the virus.
“We do not identify a specific brake on vaccination in the overseas territories (…), we have globally the same brakes as in metropolitan France, but in a much more accentuated manner ”, summarizes the Ministry of Health. The strategy for the next few weeks is to “Bring back to vaccination” the “Wait-and-see” and part of “Refractory”.
“One inhabitant in two” said to himself “Unfavorable to vaccination” for various reasons, a “Much larger proportion” than in the metropolis, the ministry notes. “Nevertheless, we have a signal of hope: among these refractories, about half believe they can change their mind. It prompts us to be much more proactive in how we get the vaccine out to people. “
Tourists invited to leave Martinique
If the situation is less critical there than in Guadeloupe, Martinique, with an incidence rate of 259 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, is also in the eye of the epidemic cyclone. The fourth wave is particularly fatal there since it has caused 86 deaths since July 13: it is already almost as many as the 98 deaths on the island during the first three waves. The pressure on the hospital continues to increase, with 341 patients with Covid-19 hospitalized and 50 in intensive care. Unlike Guadeloupe, tourists have been asked to leave the island. Mr. Lecornu and the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, are expected there Thursday.
Other restrictive measures were introduced this week in Guyana, with a curfew “From Saturday [à partir de] 8 p.m. to Monday [jusqu’à] 5 hours “ in the most affected municipalities, according to the prefecture in a press release. The incidence rate is 259 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, against 213 cases the previous week. “The impact on hospitalizations is to be feared within one or two weeks”, anticipates the prefecture.
In Polynesia, the curfew has lasted from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. throughout the country since Wednesday. The High Commissioner of the Republic in Polynesia, Dominique Sorain, does not rule out extending it ” very quickly “, or even to set up a new containment. The incidence rate there is now 1,524 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest in the world, with 173 people sick with Covid-19 with an average age of 35 years hospitalized. Tahiti, the most inhabited island and the only one equipped with a modern hospital center, is for the moment confined only on Sundays. The Delta variant now affects the other archipelagos, especially the Austral Islands and the Leeward Islands.
“I am overwhelmed by what I saw today. ” The Minister for Overseas Affairs, Sébastien Lecornu, invited Thursday August 12 on France Inter, described a catastrophic situation within the Guadeloupe hospital system, where the proliferation of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 precipitated the establishment of a « confinement strict » and the extension of the curfew from Friday for three weeks.
“We have an incidence rate in Guadeloupe which is 1,900 patients per 100,000 inhabitants. This is a rate that has never been known since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic ”, he said after going there, adding that the positivity rate is around 25%. “Concretely, that means that you have one in four PCR tests that are positive. ” According to the local regional health agency (ARS), 17 people died from Covid-19 this week on the island.
. @ SebLecornu: “The incidence rate in Guadeloupe is 1900 patients per 100,000 inhabitants. We have never known this… https://t.co/MUpLFlhgcG
The situation is explained, in addition to the high contagiousness of the Delta variant, by the relaxation of barrier gestures and, above all, low vaccination coverage, according to the minister. In Guadeloupe and Martinique, where containment has been in effect since Tuesday, barely 21% of the population has received a dose, against more than 63% in metropolitan France, according to the latest figures from Public Health France. This figure is 41.8% in Reunion and 21.3% in Guyana.
“The doctors tell me that the situation is extremely difficult, and that basically it is not a problem of reinforcements”, explained Mr. Lecornu.
“This is a peak problem of this epidemic. A lot of patients, all unvaccinated, present at the same time to the hospital (…). We are back to the technique of confinement: the saturation and the risk of congestion in the hospital are such that confinement remains the short-term emergency solution. »
According to Mr Lecornu, the island currently has 67 resuscitation beds, up from 27 “In normal times”. The government hopes to put in place “Between 100 and 130”. “The situation is unprecedented in its magnitude, it exceeds anything we could have imagined. We must increase our efforts to open additional resuscitation beds ”, abounds Marc Valette, the head of the intensive care unit of the CHU of Pointe-à-Pitre.
In his service, “Out of 55 [lits de réanimation], 44 are for Covid patients, and they are all full, we are at saturation point ”. In other words, to get someone into intensive care, someone else will have to get out. “Either because he is better, or because, unfortunately, he dies”, testifies the head of department.
A “cruel demonstration” that “vaccination is the most effective means”, according to Emmanuel Macron
The health defense council of August 11 had already been an opportunity for Emmanuel Macron to reiterate his call for vaccination. According to the head of state, the “Emergency scenario” looming in the West Indies is “The cruel demonstration” that “Vaccination is the most effective means” against the virus.
“We do not identify a specific brake on vaccination in the overseas territories (…), we have globally the same brakes as in metropolitan France, but in a much more accentuated manner ”, summarizes the Ministry of Health. The strategy for the next few weeks is to “Bring back to vaccination” the “Wait-and-see” and part of “Refractory”.
“One inhabitant in two” said to himself “Unfavorable to vaccination” for various reasons, a “Much larger proportion” than in the metropolis, the ministry notes. “Nevertheless, we have a signal of hope: among these refractories, about half believe they can change their mind. It prompts us to be much more proactive in how we get the vaccine out to people. “
Tourists invited to leave Martinique
If the situation is less critical there than in Guadeloupe, Martinique, with an incidence rate of 259 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, is also in the eye of the epidemic cyclone. The fourth wave is particularly fatal there since it has caused 86 deaths since July 13: it is already almost as many as the 98 deaths on the island during the first three waves. The pressure on the hospital continues to increase, with 341 patients with Covid-19 hospitalized and 50 in intensive care. Unlike Guadeloupe, tourists have been asked to leave the island. Mr. Lecornu and the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, are expected there Thursday.
Other restrictive measures were introduced this week in Guyana, with a curfew “From Saturday [à partir de] 8 p.m. to Monday [jusqu’à] 5 hours “ in the most affected municipalities, according to the prefecture in a press release. The incidence rate is 259 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, against 213 cases the previous week. “The impact on hospitalizations is to be feared within one or two weeks”, anticipates the prefecture.
In Polynesia, the curfew has lasted from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. throughout the country since Wednesday. The High Commissioner of the Republic in Polynesia, Dominique Sorain, does not rule out extending it ” very quickly “, or even to set up a new containment. The incidence rate there is now 1,524 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest in the world, with 173 people sick with Covid-19 with an average age of 35 years hospitalized. Tahiti, the most inhabited island and the only one equipped with a modern hospital center, is for the moment confined only on Sundays. The Delta variant now affects the other archipelagos, especially the Austral Islands and the Leeward Islands.
At the French Polynesia Hospital Center, Wednesday August 11, the 28 intensive care beds are all occupied. The establishment has 412 beds and 173 welcome a positive patient for SARS-CoV-2. “We have exceeded our normal capacities, so the hospital is fighting back to push its walls and create spaces in areas that are not dedicated to that”, explain to World its director, Claude Panero. Due to lack of space, it does not exclude the creation of medical posts in tents, on the forecourt of the hospital. But caregivers are also lacking. Twelve nurses from the national health reserve should soon come to the hospital center, as well as twenty others from New Caledonia.
The 2,300 employees, including 1,600 caregivers, are exhausted and sometimes positive for Covid. “We can only hold on, we don’t have the right to collapse, but it’s true that it’s very hard”, recognizes Dr. Charlotte Courtois, one of the Covid referents in this hospital. “We have dozens of daily hospitalizations: we are securing more and more services so as not to mix Covid and non-Covid patients”, she explains. This logic has its limits: the hospital has already deprogrammed all other non-urgent operations.
“Younger patients”
Polynesia had experienced a first epidemic wave at the end of 2020, but this one, linked to the Delta variant, is much stronger and different. “We have profiles of much younger patients, without comorbidities, who did not believe they were concerned and were not vaccinated”, explains Mme Panero. The average age of hospitalizations is 35 years, even with infants. In intensive care, she is 49 years old.
In this department, several patients suffer from obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases – common comorbidities in Polynesia. A few are even on dialysis to compensate for kidney failure. If the influx continues, these patients, whose chances of survival are low, will no longer be treated, worry professionals. “We are doing everything to avoid the sorting of patients, but if that should happen, it will be a collegial decision”, assures Merehau Mervin, director of the Polynesian health service.
Among the 28 patients in intensive care, almost all unconscious, none is vaccinated. “In all of those hospitalized, 85% are not vaccinated”, notes epidemiologist Henri-Pierre Mallet. The only positive effect, according to him, of this epidemic outbreak: Polynesians realize the importance of the vaccine and 10,000 doses per week are inoculated. But only 29% of Polynesians received two doses.
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At the French Polynesia Hospital Center, Wednesday August 11, the 28 intensive care beds are all occupied. The establishment has 412 beds and 173 welcome a positive patient for SARS-CoV-2. “We have exceeded our normal capacities, so the hospital is fighting back to push its walls and create spaces in areas that are not dedicated to that”, explain to World its director, Claude Panero. Due to lack of space, it does not exclude the creation of medical posts in tents, on the forecourt of the hospital. But caregivers are also lacking. Twelve nurses from the national health reserve should soon come to the hospital center, as well as twenty others from New Caledonia.
The 2,300 employees, including 1,600 caregivers, are exhausted and sometimes positive for Covid. “We can only hold on, we don’t have the right to collapse, but it’s true that it’s very hard”, recognizes Dr. Charlotte Courtois, one of the Covid referents in this hospital. “We have dozens of daily hospitalizations: we are securing more and more services so as not to mix Covid and non-Covid patients”, she explains. This logic has its limits: the hospital has already deprogrammed all other non-urgent operations.
“Younger patients”
Polynesia had experienced a first epidemic wave at the end of 2020, but this one, linked to the Delta variant, is much stronger and different. “We have profiles of much younger patients, without comorbidities, who did not believe they were concerned and were not vaccinated”, explains Mme Panero. The average age of hospitalizations is 35 years, even with infants. In intensive care, she is 49 years old.
In this department, several patients suffer from obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases – common comorbidities in Polynesia. A few are even on dialysis to compensate for kidney failure. If the influx continues, these patients, whose chances of survival are low, will no longer be treated, worry professionals. “We are doing everything to avoid the sorting of patients, but if that should happen, it will be a collegial decision”, assures Merehau Mervin, director of the Polynesian health service.
Among the 28 patients in intensive care, almost all unconscious, none is vaccinated. “In all of those hospitalized, 85% are not vaccinated”, notes epidemiologist Henri-Pierre Mallet. The only positive effect, according to him, of this epidemic outbreak: Polynesians realize the importance of the vaccine and 10,000 doses per week are inoculated. But only 29% of Polynesians received two doses.
You have 51.52% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
Confined to research laboratories, far from hospitals and pharmacies, in spring 2020 it was only known to a small community of researchers passionate about biology, convinced of its potential. Powered by the success of the Covid-19 vaccines developed by the American Moderna and the German BioNTech – of which nearly a billion and a half doses have been injected into the world -, the technology known as “ribonucleic acid messenger ”or mRNA has now become a star. Researchers, investors and pharmaceutical manufacturers are now flocking to this booming market.
“They all ask us to work on this technology », says Chantal Pichon, researcher at the CNRS Molecular Biophysics Center in Orléans. For this pioneer of messenger RNA, who launched her work on the subject in 2005, at a time « where few people believed it ”, the change is radical. « Almost 80% of my funding requests were refused. Each time, I ran into responses like: “It’s very interesting, but too ambitious.” This is no longer the case », she observes. The researcher is not the only one to notice this general excitement.
Across the Rhine, the biotech Ethris, which is developing mRNA-based treatments to treat hitherto incurable lung diseases, has also been « approached » by a multitude of players in recent months. Large pharmaceutical companies, but also biotechs and vaccine manufacturers, all interested in his research. « The success of the first mRNA vaccines by Moderna and BioNTech was a trigger. Not only have they shown that this technology is very effective, but, above all, that it can obtain marketing authorizations. This is a crucial step for anyone working on this technology », analyzes its co-founder, Carsten Rudolph.
A host of investors
Because messenger RNA is far from being limited to only vaccines against Covid-19. Many other vaccines (against influenza, malaria, etc.) are already being studied in laboratories around the world. But also a plethora of therapeutic products in fields as diverse as cancer, infectious diseases, rare diseases, autoimmune diseases or regenerative medicine. In total, more than 150 vaccines and therapeutic products based on messenger RNA are currently being evaluated, at preclinical or clinical stages, according to the firm Roots Analysis. “Messenger RNAs will not be able to process everything, but their potential is immense. They could lead to real medical breakthroughs », underlines Chantal Pichon.
You have 52.48% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
Confined to research laboratories, far from hospitals and pharmacies, in spring 2020 it was only known to a small community of researchers passionate about biology, convinced of its potential. Powered by the success of the Covid-19 vaccines developed by the American Moderna and the German BioNTech – of which nearly a billion and a half doses have been injected into the world -, the technology known as “ribonucleic acid messenger ”or mRNA has now become a star. Researchers, investors and pharmaceutical manufacturers are now flocking to this booming market.
“They all ask us to work on this technology », says Chantal Pichon, researcher at the CNRS Molecular Biophysics Center in Orléans. For this pioneer of messenger RNA, who launched her work on the subject in 2005, at a time « where few people believed it ”, the change is radical. « Almost 80% of my funding requests were refused. Each time, I ran into responses like: “It’s very interesting, but too ambitious.” This is no longer the case », she observes. The researcher is not the only one to notice this general excitement.
Across the Rhine, the biotech Ethris, which is developing mRNA-based treatments to treat hitherto incurable lung diseases, has also been « approached » by a multitude of players in recent months. Large pharmaceutical companies, but also biotechs and vaccine manufacturers, all interested in his research. « The success of the first mRNA vaccines by Moderna and BioNTech was a trigger. Not only have they shown that this technology is very effective, but, above all, that it can obtain marketing authorizations. This is a crucial step for anyone working on this technology », analyzes its co-founder, Carsten Rudolph.
A host of investors
Because messenger RNA is far from being limited to only vaccines against Covid-19. Many other vaccines (against influenza, malaria, etc.) are already being studied in laboratories around the world. But also a plethora of therapeutic products in fields as diverse as cancer, infectious diseases, rare diseases, autoimmune diseases or regenerative medicine. In total, more than 150 vaccines and therapeutic products based on messenger RNA are currently being evaluated, at preclinical or clinical stages, according to the firm Roots Analysis. “Messenger RNAs will not be able to process everything, but their potential is immense. They could lead to real medical breakthroughs », underlines Chantal Pichon.
You have 52.48% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
The Covid-19 pandemic has killed at least 4,314,196 worldwide since the end of December 2019, out of nearly 204 million contaminations, according to a report established by Agence France-Presse (AFP) from official sources on Wednesday August 11 in the middle of the day. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, that the toll of the pandemic could be two to three times higher than that calculated from official figures.
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Health pass and compulsory vaccinations in Israel and California
Faced with an increase in contamination, Israel put in place on July 29 the health pass which allows access to certain places to people who have been fully vaccinated, cured of Covid-19 or who have a negative test. From August 18, the Israeli government extends these measures to children from 3 to 12 years old.
The Hebrew state also set up rapid antigen testing stations across the country on Sunday, run by the Magen David Adom emergency service (MDA), and made quarantine mandatory for people returning from most countries in the world, vaccinated or not. Screening at these stations costs 52 shekels (around 17 euros) and allows you to obtain the health ministry pass, valid for 24 hours. “It will be supported by the State for children from 3 to 12 years old”, the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement.
Local measures are multiplying in United States to stem the pandemic. The governor of California (United States) has announced that all teachers will have to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or undergo weekly screenings. “To give parents the assurance that their children are safe when schools resume face-to-face lessons, we urge all school staff to get vaccinated.”, Gavin Newsom said. The measure announced Wednesday, which applies to both public and private schools, was welcomed by parent groups.
The New York Stock Exchange will, from September 13, require brokers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to access its trading room.
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New Zealand hopes for gradual reopening of borders in 2022
New Zealand is planning to lift restrictions. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday that she hoped for a gradual reopening of the archipelago in 2022. She specified that these changes will be made in such a way. « prudent ».
As part of the proposed changes, travelers from abroad will have to carry out quarantines at the hotel or at home, of varying lengths, depending on their vaccination status and their country of origin. “Our ultimate goal is to achieve a quarantine-free entry for all vaccinated travelers”said Mme Ardern, without giving a timetable. In order to ease border policy, it has pledged to intensify the vaccination campaign in order to offer, by the end of the year, vaccines to the entire population of child-age. .
The Covid-19 pandemic has killed at least 4,314,196 worldwide since the end of December 2019, out of nearly 204 million contaminations, according to a report established by Agence France-Presse (AFP) from official sources on Wednesday August 11 in the middle of the day. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, that the toll of the pandemic could be two to three times higher than that calculated from official figures.
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Health pass and compulsory vaccinations in Israel and California
Faced with an increase in contamination, Israel put in place on July 29 the health pass which allows access to certain places to people who have been fully vaccinated, cured of Covid-19 or who have a negative test. From August 18, the Israeli government extends these measures to children from 3 to 12 years old.
The Hebrew state also set up rapid antigen testing stations across the country on Sunday, run by the Magen David Adom emergency service (MDA), and made quarantine mandatory for people returning from most countries in the world, vaccinated or not. Screening at these stations costs 52 shekels (around 17 euros) and allows you to obtain the health ministry pass, valid for 24 hours. “It will be supported by the State for children from 3 to 12 years old”, the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement.
Local measures are multiplying in United States to stem the pandemic. The governor of California (United States) has announced that all teachers will have to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or undergo weekly screenings. “To give parents the assurance that their children are safe when schools resume face-to-face lessons, we urge all school staff to get vaccinated.”, Gavin Newsom said. The measure announced Wednesday, which applies to both public and private schools, was welcomed by parent groups.
The New York Stock Exchange will, from September 13, require brokers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to access its trading room.
-
New Zealand hopes for gradual reopening of borders in 2022
New Zealand is planning to lift restrictions. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday that she hoped for a gradual reopening of the archipelago in 2022. She specified that these changes will be made in such a way. « prudent ».
As part of the proposed changes, travelers from abroad will have to carry out quarantines at the hotel or at home, of varying lengths, depending on their vaccination status and their country of origin. “Our ultimate goal is to achieve a quarantine-free entry for all vaccinated travelers”said Mme Ardern, without giving a timetable. In order to ease border policy, it has pledged to intensify the vaccination campaign in order to offer, by the end of the year, vaccines to the entire population of child-age. .
ReportageIn this village of 2,200 inhabitants, the number of children suffering from cancer between 2008 and 2017 was more than four times higher than the average for the department.
When too many children are struck by cancer, the attention paid to the environment tends to be sharpened. “If it hadn’t been for all this, I probably wouldn’t have noticed anything, I wouldn’t have paid attention”, recognizes Romain Gouyet. On January 17, while he was cycling in the middle of the fields, right next to his house in Saint-Rogatien (Charente-Maritime), in the La Rochelle agglomeration, the 48-year-old computer scientist noticed a surprising merry-go-round: the Casse-Mortier catchment, which supplies several surrounding towns: a spray of water is sent directly to the ditch. “Spontaneously, I wondered why we were wasting so much water that was supposed to be good for drinking”, says Romain Gouyet. Perhaps, precisely, this water was no longer really good for consumption.
In Saint-Rogatien, as in several municipalities in the Great West of France, the accumulation of pediatric cancers in recent years has made the inhabitants suspicious. On the air they breathe, on the water they drink. In this village of 2,200 inhabitants, in the heart of the Aunis cereal plain, six children were victims of cancer between 2009 and 2018 – including five since 2013. According to a study conducted in October 2020 by the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) and the Poitou-Charentes Cancer Registry, the number of pediatric cancers diagnosed in Saint-Rogatien between 2008 and 2017 was more than four times higher than the average for the department. Compared to this benchmark, the cancer rate in young adults (aged 25 to 49) in the town was double what was expected over the same period.
Two days after the discovery of Romain Gouyet, at the municipal council of Périgny, one of the five towns supplied by the Casse-Mortier catchment, one of the elected officials of the La Rochelle agglomeration, Guillaume Krabal, was arrested. He gives the explanation. The catchment, he explains then, “Is located in the middle of an agricultural plain impacted by herbicides and pesticides, it is very difficult to protect and always at the limit of water quality thresholds”. At the beginning of January, he adds, the regional health agency (ARS) was informed that the catchment is contaminated by a herbicide widely used in the fall on cereal crops, chlortoluron: the thresholds were “Largely outdated”, says Mr. Krabal, and water “No longer drinkable”.
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ReportageIn this village of 2,200 inhabitants, the number of children suffering from cancer between 2008 and 2017 was more than four times higher than the average for the department.
When too many children are struck by cancer, the attention paid to the environment tends to be sharpened. “If it hadn’t been for all this, I probably wouldn’t have noticed anything, I wouldn’t have paid attention”, recognizes Romain Gouyet. On January 17, while he was cycling in the middle of the fields, right next to his house in Saint-Rogatien (Charente-Maritime), in the La Rochelle agglomeration, the 48-year-old computer scientist noticed a surprising merry-go-round: the Casse-Mortier catchment, which supplies several surrounding towns: a spray of water is sent directly to the ditch. “Spontaneously, I wondered why we were wasting so much water that was supposed to be good for drinking”, says Romain Gouyet. Perhaps, precisely, this water was no longer really good for consumption.
In Saint-Rogatien, as in several municipalities in the Great West of France, the accumulation of pediatric cancers in recent years has made the inhabitants suspicious. On the air they breathe, on the water they drink. In this village of 2,200 inhabitants, in the heart of the Aunis cereal plain, six children were victims of cancer between 2009 and 2018 – including five since 2013. According to a study conducted in October 2020 by the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) and the Poitou-Charentes Cancer Registry, the number of pediatric cancers diagnosed in Saint-Rogatien between 2008 and 2017 was more than four times higher than the average for the department. Compared to this benchmark, the cancer rate in young adults (aged 25 to 49) in the town was double what was expected over the same period.
Two days after the discovery of Romain Gouyet, at the municipal council of Périgny, one of the five towns supplied by the Casse-Mortier catchment, one of the elected officials of the La Rochelle agglomeration, Guillaume Krabal, was arrested. He gives the explanation. The catchment, he explains then, “Is located in the middle of an agricultural plain impacted by herbicides and pesticides, it is very difficult to protect and always at the limit of water quality thresholds”. At the beginning of January, he adds, the regional health agency (ARS) was informed that the catchment is contaminated by a herbicide widely used in the fall on cereal crops, chlortoluron: the thresholds were “Largely outdated”, says Mr. Krabal, and water “No longer drinkable”.
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Emmanuel Macron must face two intertwined challenges in this summer dominated by the Covid-19 epidemic: the fight against the virus and that against skepticism. On the one hand, the highly contagious Delta variant offers no respite for the executive. With more than 22,000 new daily cases on average in recent days, the number of contaminations is on “A very high plateau”, “Slightly ascending”, “Which does not seem, for the moment, not to bend”, as the government spokesman, Gabriel Attal noted, Wednesday August 11, at the end of a health defense council meeting by videoconference.
This strong viral circulation results in an increase in hospital pressure, since more than 1,700 patients now occupy the intensive care units, for a total of more than 9,200 hospitalizations. “A level that we had not reached since June”, noted the Head of State in the preamble of the Defense Council, in which he participated from Fort Brégançon (Var).
At the same time, the tenant of the Elysee sees swelling, week after week, the mobilization against the health pass, which brought together, on August 7, nearly 237,000 people across the country. If support for these demonstrations remains in the minority in opinion – around 35 to 40% according to various polls – the executive would not want this background noise to slow down the “Great national cause” at the moment, to use the expression of the Prime Minister, Jean Castex: vaccination. The head of government expressed concern, during a trip to Carcassonne (Aude), on Wednesday, of a French company “Tired” and “Incandescent”, after more than a year of health crisis, noting a “Lower acceptability” measures to deal with it. A crucial subject in this marathon in the fight against Covid-19.
Explosion of the epidemic in the West Indies
According to the executive, the doubts expressed on the vaccine, in fact, represent the main cause of the explosion of the epidemic in recent days overseas, particularly in the West Indies; the situation is there “Dramatic”, warned Emmanuel Macron. In Guadeloupe, where the incidence rate exceeds 1,700 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the government has decreed a new confinement, as in Martinique. « Never, on French territory, had we reached such levels of incidence ”, alarmed Gabriel Attal. The hospitals on the spot are saturated: 231 caregivers and 70 firefighters have been dispatched to reinforce them from the metropolis.
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Emmanuel Macron must face two intertwined challenges in this summer dominated by the Covid-19 epidemic: the fight against the virus and that against skepticism. On the one hand, the highly contagious Delta variant offers no respite for the executive. With more than 22,000 new daily cases on average in recent days, the number of contaminations is on “A very high plateau”, “Slightly ascending”, “Which does not seem, for the moment, not to bend”, as the government spokesman, Gabriel Attal noted, Wednesday August 11, at the end of a health defense council meeting by videoconference.
This strong viral circulation results in an increase in hospital pressure, since more than 1,700 patients now occupy the intensive care units, for a total of more than 9,200 hospitalizations. “A level that we had not reached since June”, noted the Head of State in the preamble of the Defense Council, in which he participated from Fort Brégançon (Var).
At the same time, the tenant of the Elysee sees swelling, week after week, the mobilization against the health pass, which brought together, on August 7, nearly 237,000 people across the country. If support for these demonstrations remains in the minority in opinion – around 35 to 40% according to various polls – the executive would not want this background noise to slow down the “Great national cause” at the moment, to use the expression of the Prime Minister, Jean Castex: vaccination. The head of government expressed concern, during a trip to Carcassonne (Aude), on Wednesday, of a French company “Tired” and “Incandescent”, after more than a year of health crisis, noting a “Lower acceptability” measures to deal with it. A crucial subject in this marathon in the fight against Covid-19.
Explosion of the epidemic in the West Indies
According to the executive, the doubts expressed on the vaccine, in fact, represent the main cause of the explosion of the epidemic in recent days overseas, particularly in the West Indies; the situation is there “Dramatic”, warned Emmanuel Macron. In Guadeloupe, where the incidence rate exceeds 1,700 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the government has decreed a new confinement, as in Martinique. « Never, on French territory, had we reached such levels of incidence ”, alarmed Gabriel Attal. The hospitals on the spot are saturated: 231 caregivers and 70 firefighters have been dispatched to reinforce them from the metropolis.
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Tribune. Since 2015, twenty-five children have declared cancer within a perimeter of 15 kilometers around the town of Sainte-Pazanne (Loire-Atlantique). Not six months go by without a new child being affected. A young girl died a few weeks ago, bringing the area’s pediatric cancer death toll to six. A dead child is one too many. Six is intolerable.
This has not been for want of warning for several years. In 2017, the regional health agency (ARS) of Pays de la Loire took up the case following the report of a whistleblower. No direct link has been established between pollutants and cancer, and no additional investigation has been carried out. twice repetitive in February 2019, when the ARS contacted Santé publique France (SPF). The latter does indeed conclude that there is an outbreak of pediatric cancers, but does not recommend further analysis of environmental data to determine the cause of the cancers. The resignation of public officials should question us.
How is it possible that no analysis is carried out on the potential link between accumulation of harmful substances in the environment and over-representation of pediatric cancers in the territory? It is neglecting common sense and turning a blind eye to the cocktail effect that results from the addition of chemicals in the environment. Cancer is a multifactorial disease: refusing to investigate all its potential origins is to allow metastases to spread throughout the social body.
Exposure to harmful factors is not a localized problem, but affects the entire country, and the health of the French must be a national priority. To put an end to this invisible scourge, it is not necessary to deploy heavy artillery: we already have the tools.
Monitoring of carcinogenic pollutants
Let’s move from the precautionary principle to the prevention principle. By crossing SPF data with environmental and biodiversity data, we could better understand the magnitude of the cocktail effect. With this information in hand, the action will be more effective. Then, the creation of moratoriums relating to installations in agglomerations where excess mortality is observed is necessary and urgent.
Let us also put an end to the prefectural exemptions allowing the continuation of industrial activities without taking into account the danger. In the aftermath of regional and departmental elections, let us recall the environmental impact of land use planning decisions based on these communities.
You have 34.75% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
Tribune. Since 2015, twenty-five children have declared cancer within a perimeter of 15 kilometers around the town of Sainte-Pazanne (Loire-Atlantique). Not six months go by without a new child being affected. A young girl died a few weeks ago, bringing the area’s pediatric cancer death toll to six. A dead child is one too many. Six is intolerable.
This has not been for want of warning for several years. In 2017, the regional health agency (ARS) of Pays de la Loire took up the case following the report of a whistleblower. No direct link has been established between pollutants and cancer, and no additional investigation has been carried out. twice repetitive in February 2019, when the ARS contacted Santé publique France (SPF). The latter does indeed conclude that there is an outbreak of pediatric cancers, but does not recommend further analysis of environmental data to determine the cause of the cancers. The resignation of public officials should question us.
How is it possible that no analysis is carried out on the potential link between accumulation of harmful substances in the environment and over-representation of pediatric cancers in the territory? It is neglecting common sense and turning a blind eye to the cocktail effect that results from the addition of chemicals in the environment. Cancer is a multifactorial disease: refusing to investigate all its potential origins is to allow metastases to spread throughout the social body.
Exposure to harmful factors is not a localized problem, but affects the entire country, and the health of the French must be a national priority. To put an end to this invisible scourge, it is not necessary to deploy heavy artillery: we already have the tools.
Monitoring of carcinogenic pollutants
Let’s move from the precautionary principle to the prevention principle. By crossing SPF data with environmental and biodiversity data, we could better understand the magnitude of the cocktail effect. With this information in hand, the action will be more effective. Then, the creation of moratoriums relating to installations in agglomerations where excess mortality is observed is necessary and urgent.
Let us also put an end to the prefectural exemptions allowing the continuation of industrial activities without taking into account the danger. In the aftermath of regional and departmental elections, let us recall the environmental impact of land use planning decisions based on these communities.
You have 34.75% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
“The objective is the vaccination of all French people” : Emmanuel Macron launched a “Call to civility and a sense of duty”, Wednesday August 11, during a health defense council. Later in the afternoon, government spokesman Gabriel Attal confirmed the end of free non-prescription tests, which “Will enter into force in mid-October”.
“The tests do not protect, they do not prevent going to the hospital”, explained Mr. Attal, adding that “By mid-October, everyone will have had time to make arrangements to be vaccinated”.
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Alarming situation in the West Indies and in the south of France
“The health crisis is not behind us. We will live for several more months with this virus ”, warned the Head of State, who chaired the defense council by videoconference, from Fort Brégançon, before a council of ministers at 12:30. He underlined the “Dramatic situation” of the West Indies and defended the sanitary pass to prevent “The closure of the country”. Gabriel Attal then announced the expansion of strict confinement, already in force in Martinique, Guadeloupe. Since Tuesday evening, in Martinique, non-essential shops, seasonal rentals, hotels and beaches have been closed. Tourists have been urged to leave the island.
The West Indies show “Incidence rate that we have never known” in France, according to the overseas minister, Sébastien Lecornu, arrived Tuesday evening in Guadeloupe, accompanied by a reinforcement of 274 caregivers and 60 firefighters. The contamination curve is there “So strong” that “We are going to have to tighten the confinement”, according to modalities which will have to be specified Wednesday evening by the prefect, confirmed the minister who must, then, go to Martinique.
For the Head of State, the situation of the two overseas departments, where vaccination is three times lower than in mainland France, is a “Cruel demonstration” the need for the vaccine. Barely 20% of the population of Guadeloupe and Martinique is fully vaccinated, against more than 55% in metropolitan France, according to the latest figures from Public Health France. “The increase in contaminations results in an explosion of serious forms” of Covid-19, he asserted.
Emmanuel Macron was also alarmed at “The worrying state of affairs” in mainland France, particularly in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Corsica and Occitanie regions, where the incidence rate exceeds 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and raises the fear of hospital pressure.
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A third dose of vaccine for the most vulnerable
While the executive describes an epidemic trajectory on “A slightly ascending high plateau”, Emmanuel Macron insisted on “A very simple objective: the vaccination of all French people who can be vaccinated”. “We must at least meet the target of 50 million vaccinated at the end of August”, he added, believing to be ” on the right track “ since “37.8 million French” are already completely.
” No one is immune. There are too many people who think, wrongly, that they will only do light forms at worst ” of the Covid, hammered the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, earlier in the morning in front of caregivers, during a trip to the Aude.
The president also confirmed the establishment, at the start of the school year, of a vaccination booster campaign, with a third dose for those over 80 and particularly vulnerable people. “The meetings will open from the end of August-beginning of September, for a recall campaign which will begin in mid-September”, abounded Mr. Attal. “The list of the populations concerned will be drawn up by the High Authority for Health”, he added.
At the same time, middle school, high school and college students will be able to be vaccinated in their schools, where “Vaccination barnums will be set up”, detailed the government spokesperson.
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Health pass required in new shopping centers
The government has asked the prefects to make the health pass compulsory in shopping centers over 20,000 m2, in the departments where the incidence rate exceeds 200 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, announced Gabriel Attal. In addition, in these departments, the prefects must restore the wearing of compulsory masks indoors in places open to the public, he added.
Two days after the entry into force of the extension of the health pass, the Head of State said in “Measure the constraints”, in particular for restaurateurs and cafetiers who must check its validity. Corn “It was that or the closure of the country”, he argued.
“Let everyone remember that when there was no more turnover at all because of the epidemic, it was public money that made it possible to pay those responsible for these places. It is therefore legitimate to ask for a share of responsibility. “
Faced with demonstrations bringing together a growing number of opponents to the health pass or vaccination every Saturday – 237,000 last weekend, according to Place Beauvau – whose processions regularly denounce a supposed “Health dictatorship”, Emmanuel Macron affirmed that “Never in our history has a crisis of such magnitude been fought so democratically”. He castigated those who “Are trading this pandemic to gain political market share.”
Prime Minister Jean Castex, for his part, acknowledged on Wednesday that “Society is tired, incandescent” but insisted that ” the government [devait] to hold a firm, serious and responsible speech ”. “There are some that worry about the sanitary pass, it’s their right. But let’s not forget that there are more people, but perhaps quieter, who are reassured by the health past ”, he pleaded.
“The objective is the vaccination of all French people” : Emmanuel Macron launched a “Call to civility and a sense of duty”, Wednesday August 11, during a health defense council. Later in the afternoon, government spokesman Gabriel Attal confirmed the end of free non-prescription tests, which “Will enter into force in mid-October”.
“The tests do not protect, they do not prevent going to the hospital”, explained Mr. Attal, adding that “By mid-October, everyone will have had time to make arrangements to be vaccinated”.
-
Alarming situation in the West Indies and in the south of France
“The health crisis is not behind us. We will live for several more months with this virus ”, warned the Head of State, who chaired the defense council by videoconference, from Fort Brégançon, before a council of ministers at 12:30. He underlined the “Dramatic situation” of the West Indies and defended the sanitary pass to prevent “The closure of the country”. Gabriel Attal then announced the expansion of strict confinement, already in force in Martinique, Guadeloupe. Since Tuesday evening, in Martinique, non-essential shops, seasonal rentals, hotels and beaches have been closed. Tourists have been urged to leave the island.
The West Indies show “Incidence rate that we have never known” in France, according to the overseas minister, Sébastien Lecornu, arrived Tuesday evening in Guadeloupe, accompanied by a reinforcement of 274 caregivers and 60 firefighters. The contamination curve is there “So strong” that “We are going to have to tighten the confinement”, according to modalities which will have to be specified Wednesday evening by the prefect, confirmed the minister who must, then, go to Martinique.
For the Head of State, the situation of the two overseas departments, where vaccination is three times lower than in mainland France, is a “Cruel demonstration” the need for the vaccine. Barely 20% of the population of Guadeloupe and Martinique is fully vaccinated, against more than 55% in metropolitan France, according to the latest figures from Public Health France. “The increase in contaminations results in an explosion of serious forms” of Covid-19, he asserted.
Emmanuel Macron was also alarmed at “The worrying state of affairs” in mainland France, particularly in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Corsica and Occitanie regions, where the incidence rate exceeds 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and raises the fear of hospital pressure.
-
A third dose of vaccine for the most vulnerable
While the executive describes an epidemic trajectory on “A slightly ascending high plateau”, Emmanuel Macron insisted on “A very simple objective: the vaccination of all French people who can be vaccinated”. “We must at least meet the target of 50 million vaccinated at the end of August”, he added, believing to be ” on the right track “ since “37.8 million French” are already completely.
” No one is immune. There are too many people who think, wrongly, that they will only do light forms at worst ” of the Covid, hammered the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, earlier in the morning in front of caregivers, during a trip to the Aude.
The president also confirmed the establishment, at the start of the school year, of a vaccination booster campaign, with a third dose for those over 80 and particularly vulnerable people. “The meetings will open from the end of August-beginning of September, for a recall campaign which will begin in mid-September”, abounded Mr. Attal. “The list of the populations concerned will be drawn up by the High Authority for Health”, he added.
At the same time, middle school, high school and college students will be able to be vaccinated in their schools, where “Vaccination barnums will be set up”, detailed the government spokesperson.
-
Health pass required in new shopping centers
The government has asked the prefects to make the health pass compulsory in shopping centers over 20,000 m2, in the departments where the incidence rate exceeds 200 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, announced Gabriel Attal. In addition, in these departments, the prefects must restore the wearing of compulsory masks indoors in places open to the public, he added.
Two days after the entry into force of the extension of the health pass, the Head of State said in “Measure the constraints”, in particular for restaurateurs and cafetiers who must check its validity. Corn “It was that or the closure of the country”, he argued.
“Let everyone remember that when there was no more turnover at all because of the epidemic, it was public money that made it possible to pay those responsible for these places. It is therefore legitimate to ask for a share of responsibility. “
Faced with demonstrations bringing together a growing number of opponents to the health pass or vaccination every Saturday – 237,000 last weekend, according to Place Beauvau – whose processions regularly denounce a supposed “Health dictatorship”, Emmanuel Macron affirmed that “Never in our history has a crisis of such magnitude been fought so democratically”. He castigated those who “Are trading this pandemic to gain political market share.”
Prime Minister Jean Castex, for his part, acknowledged on Wednesday that “Society is tired, incandescent” but insisted that ” the government [devait] to hold a firm, serious and responsible speech ”. “There are some that worry about the sanitary pass, it’s their right. But let’s not forget that there are more people, but perhaps quieter, who are reassured by the health past ”, he pleaded.