Faced with the rise in the number of cases of Covid-19 coronavirus, President Emmanuel Macron announced the closure of nurseries and schools, in the wake of many countries Europeans. The stock markets took the plunge on Thursday, sometimes at historic levels, with the CAC 40 losing more than 12% and the Milan stock market almost 17%.
The latest report from the Directorate General of Health (DGS) reports 2,876 cases of Covid-19 for 61 deaths in France. Among the sick, there are 129 serious cases. In his speech this Thursday, March 12, 2020, President Emmanuel Macron did not declare stage 3 of the epidemic, as one might expect, but more drastic measures to curb the spread of the virus.
Following by more than 20 million viewers (a record), the Head of State announced the closure of all nurseries, schools, colleges, high schools, and universities (see end of article). This measure will come into effect from Monday, March 16 until further notice. You should know that others have taken a similar decision in Europe:Italy of course, but also Greece, Poland, Ireland, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Denmark. Some of them like Italy and Belgium have also closed restaurants and cafes.
Other measures announced, the limitation of travel, the protection of people over 70, the extension of the winter break for a period of 2 months and a strengthening of partial unemployment measures for companies.
In Italy – quarantined for a few days – the balance sheet now reports 15,000 cases for more than a thousand deaths . The daily Ouest France gave the floor to a contact confined to Rome, the capital of the country. According to him, France is taking the same path as Italy, comments confirmed by doctors who indicate that the spread of the virus in France is just as fast, but a few days apart.
In this completely confined country, only grocery stores, supermarkets and pharmacies remain open. In addition, we note the presence of a number of people wearing protective masks. Let us also quote the testimony of Daniele Macchini, doctor of the Humanitas Gavazzeni hospital in Bergamo (Lombardy). This story evoking the situation on the ground in Italy could be useful to countries in which the situation is taking the same turn.
The epidemic now has more than 135,000 cases and approximately 5,000 deaths , and this in a hundred countries, further confirming its pandemic status on a global scale. If Italy remains the second most affected country, the situation in Iran is not getting any better. Indeed, this Middle Eastern country now has 10,075 cases for 429 deaths . In Europe, Spain has just overtaken France and has had 2,965 cases for 84 deaths since yesterday. We should also mention Germany (2,700 cases / 3 deaths) and Switzerland (860 cases / 6 deaths).
The United States, having already banned entry to EU nationals, now has 1,530 cases and 38 deaths. Moreover, according to RFI, experts are fueling a controversy around the lack of screening tests in this country.
Hope comes to us from the first countries affected, with China and South Korea confirming a slowdown in the epidemic.
Here is Emmanuel Macron's speech of March 12, 2020:
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