If Paris joined Marseille and Guadeloupe on Sunday evening, other large cities, such as Lille, Lyon, Grenoble, Toulouse and Saint-Etienne could also soon switch to the red alert zone.
As of Thursday, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, declared that if the worsening were to be confirmed, “we would have no other choice but to place Paris and the inner suburbs on maximum alert and this from Monday”, before declining the consequences: “more family celebrations, more parties and the total closure of bars”. And to add that the situation was deteriorating particularly in several agglomerations, including that of Saint-Etienne.
Friday, the mayor of Saint-Etienne and president of Saint-Etienne Métropole, Gaël Perdriau, exchanged by videoconference with the Minister of Health on the situation in the Loire region. “The minister leaves himself until next Friday to decide on possible additional measures if the situation deteriorates further”, wrote the mayor this weekend on his Facebook page.
Friday, the Loire had 147 hospitalizations, including 24 patients in intensive care. 14 clusters were followed in the department.