AFP
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CORONAVIRUS – “We are lucky, the sky is blue, the temperatures are quite pleasant. It contrasts sharply with the gloom and anxiety of Wuhan. ” Like this journalist also placed in isolation, the 180 people repatriated from China in France spent their first night of confinement at Carry-le-Rouet.
Far from the murky stereotype of the quarantine, the atmosphere on the spot seems calmed, even particularly relaxed. Asked about France Info, Sébastien Ricci, journalist for the AFP, repatriated and placed in quarantine, describes a “very friendly atmosphere”, even of “summer camp”. And for good reason: everyone was welcomed in this holiday center described as modern and comfortable.
Volleyball match with masks
“I have a room with a beautiful view facing the sea. There are two beds, a TV, a nice bathroom. It’s just wonderful. But we must not leave demarcated areas ”, tells William to BFMTV and RMC.
Like him, returnees from Wuhan took possession of their individual rooms with minimalist decoration. “We arrived in a resort that overlooks the sea, so with a much more summer camp atmosphere, much more friendly, family-friendly,” says Sébastien Ricci, telling the jokes that are exchanged by those placed in quarantine, especially on the dreaded coronavirus.
“People tend to take this lightly, to laugh when someone sneezes, coughs, as it can happen to each of us for reasons that are absolutely not related to the coronavirus,” says the journalist.
As a sign of this peaceful climate, the Red Cross, which mobilized nearly 200 people on the site as of Friday, set up “occupational activities for the children of the center”, around fifty. “For example, they are playing volleyball with the Red Cross animators. It’s a bit of a special match, in the sense that the players wear the mask, ”Marc Zyltman, national administrator of the French Red Cross, present at Carry-le-Rouet on Saturday, told AFP.
The parents of a repatriated student came to bring him a travel bag containing clean clothes, an AFP journalist observed. They had to leave the bag at the center gate, at the gendarmes present. The father said he was reassured that his son was taken care of in France, adding that the latter had spoken to them of a “rather friendly” atmosphere. “I think they are all relieved to be there, in very good conditions,” his father assured the media present outside the center.
The Red Cross also planned to set up as of Saturday afternoon concierge activities, namely races for confined people.
“Life takes its course”
“Last night they were tired, that’s normal. People went to bed quietly after the evening meal. Now life is resuming its course, and things are going pretty well, ”said one from the Red Cross side.
This peaceful atmosphere should not, however, obscure the strict measures taken by the authorities to prevent any risk of contamination, even if the first two suspected cases have finally tested “negative” to coronavirus.
Medical tests are planned for all quarantined people. On Saturday, near the Vacanciel center, the gendarmes continued to closely monitor the only entrance to the site, in the middle of a pine forest, in a cove more than 3 kilometers from the town center of the small seaside resort. A prefectural order banned overflying the area, including by drones, until Tuesday.
The returnees have agreed in writing to respect the 14-day quarantine. They are, however, free to move around the grounds of the holiday center where medical staff support them 24 hours a day.
The second government-chartered plane to repatriate French nationals from Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic, took off overnight from Friday to Saturday from Paris. This source did not say whether the plane will take its passengers to the south of France.
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