“The risk of introduction into France is low but cannot be excluded,” said Agnes Buzyn this evening.
China now counts 300 confirmed cases of contamination with the new coronavirus which appeared at the end of December on a market in Wuhan. Six people died in China and several cases have been confirmed abroad, including one in the United States. The Directorate General of Health held Tuesday, January 21, in the evening a press conference to take stock of the situation in France. Here’s what to remember.
A risk of arrival in France “low” but not “excluded”
“The risk of introduction into France is low but cannot be excluded, especially since there are direct airlines” with Wuhan, the Chinese city epicenter of this epidemic, said the Minister of Health. “Our health system is well prepared, health establishments have been informed and recommendations for care have been issued”, she stressed during a press briefing to the ministry.
Precautionary messages are broadcast on direct flights to and from Wuhan and posters reminding the action to be taken in the event of symptoms are displayed at international airports, said Agnes Buzyn.
No systematic border control
France, on the other hand, has not put in place a systematic temperature control for travelers from China, unlike other countries such as Russia and Thailand, since this measure is not “not recommended by the World Health Organization”, East “complex to set up” and “not very effective”, has explained the Director General of Health Jérôme Salomon. “In addition, passengers departing from Wuhan are already detected “, he recalled.
WHO will meet on Wednesday to decide whether to declare a “public health emergency of international concern”. China has recorded nearly 300 cases of this respiratory disease on its territory and a total of six deaths in Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic which has infected several other people in Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan.
A suspect case in France “completely excluded”
A French citizen presented with respiratory symptoms a few days after a stay in Wuhan. He was taken care of in isolation in a benchmark establishment. “He’s fine, went home, all the virology exams (made at the National Reference Center of the Institut Pasteur) are negative “, explained Jérôme Salomon.
In case of doubt, people are invited to “stay at home” to avoid contact and to call 15, added Jérôme Salomon, also stressing the effectiveness of “barrier measures” (hand washing, etc.) to avoid contamination.
Zhong Nanshan, a Chinese scientist with the National Health Commission, said on Monday evening that contagious transmission between people was “Proven”. It was the first time that such an assertion was made publicly.
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