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Paris passes alert level as Covid cases rise

The Local France
The Local France - [email protected]
Paris passes alert level as Covid cases rise
An aerial picture taken on March 24, 2021 in Versailles, West of Paris, shows a view of Paris and the Eiffel Tower. (Photo by Martin BUREAU / AFP)

Paris has passed the official alert level of 50 cases per 100,000 people as cases in France, after many weeks of decline, begin to rise again.

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Although cases around France remain low, with a national incidence level of 24.1, the rise of cases in the capital has worried local health officials.

In better news, the south western département of Landes, which had previously gone over the threshold of 50 after seeing a surge in cases of the delta variant, has seen case numbers fall after drives to increase testing and vaccinations in the area.

 

In Paris the incidence rate has doubled in just a week, although it remains far below the incidence rate of 500 seen just before the partial lockdown in April and May this year.

Experts say that the case numbers are particularly high in younger people. Among 20-29 year-olds, the incidence rose from 47 to 124 in one week. Among 10-19 year-olds, it jumped from 28 to 95. With its comparatively young population, Paris has a lower than average vaccination level with 57.2 percent of people having received at least one dose and 24.9 percent fully vaccinated.

"The Delta variant is progressing very quickly. It represents more than half of the cases in Paris," said Aurelien Rousseau, Director General of the Regional Health Agency for Île-de-France, adding: "Only vaccination will allow us to escape from the picture that is taking shape."

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On a national level, the delta variant now represents 30 percent of cases in France, although in the southern Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region this jumps to over 60 percent. Overall, case numbers seem to have plateaued and are now seeing a slight rise.

 

Experts are predicting a fourth wave of Covid cases, driven by the delta variant in the coming weeks. While earlier predictions focused on September or October, health minister Olivier Véran earlier this week warned that the fourth wave could be here by the end of July.

Data from the UK, where the delta variant now makes up almost all cases, shows a big rise in case numbers coupled with a smaller but still noticeable rise in hospitalisations.

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Anonymous 2021/07/07 19:04
I am just back from a trip to Paris. I had to get an antigen test in order to return to the states. I went to a local pharmacie. All the people getting tests were twenty-somethings.
Anonymous 2021/07/07 13:14
Is it really terrible advice? I said stay home if you feel sick. Asymptomatic? Possible but not a high risk for vaccinated people. The reality is everyone who wanted to be vaccinated could have been by now, even my 15 year old is fully vaccinated tomorrow. New strains? well that's what virussen do, nothing new here, it won't go on forever, in the worst case they can modify the vaccines. No point in fearing things who might never happen. Long covid? Are there statistics a out how many fully vaccinated people got long covid? How many people are really having long covid and how many are sick from being scared and a bit hypochondriac? I am not saying it does not exist, it does, but I have no idea how bad this problem really is. By all means get tested if you visit high risk people, everyone without underlying illness under 40 in the western world is low risk. But do not force responsible fully vaccinated people to stay at home when they are not sick, that's madness. Only because there was a positive person in the same shop. Underwhile they allow sport matches and concerts…….. don't think that mask prevent covid! With all respect I understand what you are saying but the reality is that there is no longer a need to controle people, just incase that the hospitals get over full, put restrictions in when that happens. People can make up their own mind about what is sensible when it comes to get vaccinated and your behaviours. I fully support people who choose not to get vaccinated, that's everyones own choice, I was very reluctant but decided to go ahead after I informed myself and concluded being reluctant is natural, but are my fears realistic? I concluded they were unfounded.
Anonymous 2021/07/07 10:35
The solution? if you can get yourself to a test centre, don't do it, stay home as long as you feel poorly and only get tested if you get really sick or very worried. It has been enough now, give people their autonomy back, you should already be vaccinated by now if that's your thing and if not also alright but you have a higher chance to get covid and hassle around travel, everyone knows that. Yes some people might die, but many die in traffic also and we do not put restrictions on cars like males from 18 to 25 are only allowed to drive from 8.00 to 17.00.
  • Anonymous 2021/07/07 11:24
    The first part is terrible advice. The whole point of Covid is that a lot of people are asymptomatic but can transmit it to other people who then get sick or die. And the reason why France didn't have a post-Christmas wave of the same magnitude as other countries is because they had a mass testing programme where people would get tested before seeing their relatives. As for the second part, no we don't put restrictions on when people can travel in cars but we do have laws like wearing seatbelts or not drinking/talking on the phone while driving. I'm not saying we should return to confinement, but nor should we repeal all restrictions until enough young people are vaccinated or sufficient treatment is available that Covid is manageable and doesn't either give tons of people long Covid or run a greater risk of the virus mutating into a vaccine-resistant strain.

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