Coronavirus: we explain everything about stage 3 of the prevention plan

Recent government announcements suggest moving to stage 3 in the fight against the coronavirus in France.

While the subject of stage 1 of prevention plan against the coronavirus was to prevent the virus to break into the territory, the second health level, in which we have been since February 28, aims to curb the spread of Covid-19. Concretely, the triggering of stage 2 led to the closure of a hundred schools, to cancel or postpone sporting and cultural events or to limit public gatherings to 5,000 people and to quarantine all over the territory .

But today, if the government is to be believed, trigger stage 3 of the epidemic seems inevitable. “I fear it will be difficult to escape the epidemic phase,” government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye admitted to France Inter on Wednesday (March 4th). For that, it is necessary that the virus circulates on the whole of the territory whereas currently there exist only clusters, that is, homes of patients in different places.

The General Directorate of Health (DGS), which reports to the Ministry of Health, has three: in the Oise, in Haute-Savoie and in the Morbihan. However, the number of isolated cases in other regions is increasing every day. If the epidemic stage is reached, phase 3 will be triggered with the aim of limiting the effects of the epidemic.

To draw the contours of this stage 3, the authorities rely on a Prevention and Control Plan drawn up in 2011 in the event of an influenza pandemic. Although the coronavirus has differences, this could serve as a basis for reflection. Binding restrictions all over the country would see the light of day …

• the closure of crèches and educational establishments at the territorial or even national level;
• the possible suspension of certain public transport;
• the restriction of large gatherings and collective activities;
• maintaining a food supply and basic necessities to avoid shortages.

In this situation, patient management would evolve: infected patients by the coronavirus would no longer be systematically treated in the hospital. In fact, “harmless” patients would remain confined to their homes and would be followed by their general practitioner.

“This home support system will aim to not saturate the hospitalization capacities of health establishments and will make it possible to reserve the resources of health establishments for the most serious cases ”, indicates the government. “These measures could be taken gradually, depending on the situation, with heterogeneity on the territory,” said the Ministry of Health.

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