Covid-19 test at the Biogroup Laboratory in Brunstatt, near Mulhouse, on May 12, 2020. – CATHERINE KOHLER / SIPA
Eight new outbreaks of coronavirus have been identified in the
Grand Est region since May 11, first day of
deconfinement in France, the Regional Health Agency (ARS) and the regional prefecture announced on Tuesday.
Four departments in the region are concerned: a “cluster” has been identified in Haute-Marne, “four in Moselle, two in Bas-Rhin, one in Meuse”, listed Marie-Ange Desailly-Chanson, director general of the ‘ARS du Grand-Est during a press conference. The number of cases per cluster ranges from three to sixteen maximum for one of the outbreaks identified in Moselle.
Two households with more than 10 risk contacts
Among these eight new foci of contamination, four are in nursing homes, one in a “health establishment”, one in “a structure of social assistance for children”, one in a “medico-social establishment for disabled people” and the last in a “military grip”. According to France Bleu Lorraine Nord, this is the Sarreguemines gendarmerie where eight soldiers tested positive for Covid-19.
The other situations to which Public Health France ensures to pay “special attention” are situations involving more than ten people who have been in contact with a patient. There are two on Tuesday in the Grand Est, in the Meuse and Moselle, said Ms. Desailly-Chanson.
The director of ARS remained cautious about a link between the appearance of these new cases and the start of deconfinement. “Possibly some existed before”, the average incubation period for the virus being “seven to ten days”.
Tracing identifies 550 patients
Since the implementation of the “contact tracing” device on May 13, the Grand Est has registered just over 550 positive patients, who have been in contact with around 1,200 people, according to Maxime Rouchon, coordinator of the device for the Primary Fund health insurance in the region.
Sick people have the choice between isolating themselves at home or in an outside structure, usually a hotel. This second option was only chosen by two people in the Bas-Rhin, said the prefect of this department and of the Grand Est region Josiane Chevalier.
Red zone until early June
During the cartography presented by the government on May 7, a few days before the deconfinement, the Grand Est was classified in red, that is to say in a live area, like the rest of the northeast quarter of France. .
A reassessment of this classification will not be published until early June, said the prefect. However, by Monday evening, the proportion of emergency visits for a suspected Covid-19 dropped below 6%, a sign of a weak circulation of the virus, and the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care decreased to 233 , or half of the available beds, according to ARS data.
