THE ESSENTIAL
France has 2,281 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and 15 new deaths, according to a report given on Wednesday evening. More than 500 new infections were recorded in 24 hours. Globally, the toll of the Covid-19 has exceeded 4,000 dead. The WHO has declared that the epidemic is now “a pandemic”.
The main information to remember
- The latest assessment is 2,281 confirmed cases and 48 deaths in France
- The epidemic is now qualified as a pandemic by the WHO
- Italy and the United Kingdom announced the release of tens of billions of euros to support the economy
In France, 2,281 cases and 48 deaths
The last official assessment, Wednesday evening, reported in France 48 deaths (against 33 Tuesday) out of the 2,281 cases confirmed since the arrival of the virus. Almost 500 new cases were recorded in 24 hours. For the Director General of Health, Jérôme Salomon, “the transition to stage 3 should happen in the coming days”, which can locally accentuate certain constraints facing the coronavirus. Government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye said Wednesday that “measures to be taken in stage 3” “are still being considered”. She also clarified that they will not be “standard” across the country. “Our goal is not to shut down the country,” she said.
Corsica closes its schools, a new home to Montpellier
Currently, all gatherings of more than 1,000 people are prohibited in France until April 15, in the open air as well as in an enclosed environment. Schools are also closed in the most affected regions, the Oise, the Haut-Rhin but also Corsica until March 29, as we learned on Wednesday. 51 people were infected on the island of beauty.
Another restrictive measure: the government has decided to suspend all visits by outsiders to accommodation facilities for the elderly, who are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus, he announced on Wednesday.
A new outbreak of contamination with coronavirus has also been detected in the agglomeration of Montpellier where the prefect will close the nurseries and schools of 16 municipalities in the east of the city, announced Wednesday evening the Minister of Health , Olivier Véran, without giving figures on the number of cases in the region. Gatherings “not essential to social, civic or economic life” of more than 50 people will also be prohibited in these communes, he added.
Emmanuel Macron will speak on Thursday evening
Emmanuel Macron will make a televised statement Thursday at 8 p.m. This declaration “will be devoted to the coronavirus health crisis,” said Sibeth Ndiaye after the Council of Ministers. It will take place three days before the first round of municipal elections on Sunday. The second round is scheduled for March 22. The government spokeswoman also said on Wednesday that the question of the privatization of Aéroports de Paris (ADP) “cannot be asked immediately given the current” market conditions due to the coronavirus crisis.
The Paris Stock Exchange therefore closed again on Wednesday (-0.57%). European financial markets have all plunged into red, while Monday’s session was the worst since the great financial crisis of 2008.
League Cup final postponed, E3 canceled
Like the PSG-Dortmund Champions League match, which will be disputed without an audience on Wednesday evening, some 450 national sporting events and nearly 2 million spectators will be affected by restrictions, according to Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu. The final of the League Cup, PSG-Lyon, initially scheduled for April 4 at the Stade de France, has been postponed to a later date which has not been specified, announced Wednesday the Professional Football League (LFP).
The cultural world is also affected, with the announcement of the cancellation of the 2020 edition of the Séries Mania festival, the biggest series festival in France, which was to be held in Lille and in Hauts-de-France from 20 until March 28. In addition, the organizers of the Coachella music festival announced that the music festival, which normally takes place in April in California, would be postponed to October in order to follow the precautionary instructions of the local health authorities.
The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), one of the biggest video game fairs that takes place every year in Los Angeles, has been canceled.
WHO calls epidemic pandemic, Italy cuts itself off from the world
The epidemic, which is spreading around the world, has been qualified since Wednesday afternoon as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). A total of 119,711 cases of contamination have been identified worldwide. In some countries, such as Italy (10,149 cases, 631 deaths) or Spain (more than 2,000 cases, 47 deaths) the number of patients continues to increase. The first death has been announced in Belgium, a 90-year-old patient.
To cope with the spread of the virus, Italy has ordered the containment of its territory. All Italians must “avoid travel”, except to go to work, to refuel or for medical care. The Vatican Basilica and St. Peter’s Square are closed to tourists until April 3. From the Colosseum to the Tower of Pisa, the government closed the doors of all museums and monuments. As for bars and restaurants, they lower their curtain at 6 p.m. The country has thus become the first to generalize such draconian measures, described by the European Union as “daring”.
Rome has also announced 25 billion euros to fight the epidemic. In the process, the British government for its part announced to release 30 billion pounds to support the economy.
China, epicenter of the epidemic, has registered 22 coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, the National Commission (Ministry) of Health announced on Wednesday, also reporting a slight increase in the number of new infections.
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