Confined since March 17 to fight the spread of the epidemic, France has recorded 441 additional deaths in the last twenty-four hours in hospital, less than Friday with the worst daily toll since the start of the epidemic (588 dead). Taking into account the 2,028 deaths in nursing homes and other medico-social establishments, this brings to 7,560 the total death toll due to this virus.
On Saturday, more than 6,800 people were in intensive care. “Tonight, we have never had so many resuscitation patients”, underlined the general director of health Jérôme Salomon, during his daily press briefing, even if there is a gradual slowdown in admissions.
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Medical evacuations continue
Several dozen Ile-de-France patients with Covid-19 will be transferred, on Sunday, April 5, on board two medical trains in Brittany, said the regional health agency (ARS). Brittany already welcomed six patients from the Grand-Est region on March 25 and then, on April 1, thirty-six patients from Ile-de-France.
Two sanitary trains will be mobilized on Sunday. “The first train will transport patients to Vannes, Lorient and Quimper. The second train will allow the transfer of patients distributed between Rennes, Saint-Malo, Morlaix and Brest ”, specifies the ARS.
In total, according to health authorities more than 550 patients in critical condition have been evacuated since March 18.
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Maintain the containment effort, even during school holidays
As the peak of the epidemic ” approximate “Salomon said the French are urged not to let go of the confinement effort and to take home the Easter holidays, which began this weekend. “No relaxation, stay at home”, urged AP-HP director general Martin Hirsch deploring the presence of “Too many people in the streets, too many strollers, too many walkers” in Paris, met by caregivers on their way to work.
Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said on Saturday that he was ” impossible “ to know when students could return to class. Once the containment is lifted, ” several days “ to organize a gradual return to school, after a complete cleaning of the establishments, and “Maybe not everywhere at the same time”, underlined the minister.
Since Friday, the start of the school holidays for the Ile-de-France and Occitanie academies, more than 160,000 police and gendarmes have been mobilized, and for the entire weekend, to enforce containment measures.
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The entire population of Saint-Barth will be screened
The small island of Saint Barthélemy in the French West Indies, confined like the rest of France for almost twenty days, has released two million euros to have Covid-19 test all of its 10,000 inhabitants. “The objective is to reassure the population and get the government to lift the containment for Saint-Barthélemy”, said the president of the Community Bruno Magras (the Republicans), who has ruled the island since 1995.
To date, Saint-Barthélemy has identified six proven cases on its territory of 21 km2, including four who have now recovered. The other two are confined to their homes and their health is not a concern. No cases have been reported since March 26.
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Launch of a test with plasma from cured patients
While a race against the clock is underway to find a cure for the disease, several establishments have announced the launch next week of a clinical trial consisting in transfusing blood plasma of people recovered from Covid-19 – containing directed antibodies against the virus – towards patients in acute phase. Such trials are already being carried out in the United States and in China.
Researchers from several countries have also launched, or are about to launch, large-scale clinical trials to determine whether BCG vaccination (commonly known as the tuberculosis vaccine) would offer protection – at least partial – against the Covid-19.
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Mayor promises to avoid “shipwreck”
On the economic plan, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, assured the Sunday newspaper that the state would bring “The financial means necessary as long as the crisis lasts”, to avoid “A shipwreck” of the economy related to the pandemic.
To help companies get over the shock of containment, the government has announced that it will guarantee up to 300 billion euros in bank loans, equivalent to 15% of France’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
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