Living through a pandemic
in the south of France
345 days in Carcassonne since
1st lockdown in March 2020
▫️ DAILY AND WEEKLY STATISTICS HERE .
▫️ COVID-19 – Jean Castex head of the government, who wants to avoid further containment as much as possible, spoke at a press conference yesterday, as planned,the day after the announcement of the containment measures in Dunkirk.
Here are the main points he made
▶︎ The 20 departments under surveillance.
Departments in which reinforced measures will be taken from 6 March if the situation continues to deteriorate.
▶︎ Circulation rate of variants
The circulation of variants in France is accelerating. The regions with an incidence rate above the maximum alert threshold are moreover confronted with higher proportions of British, South African or Brazilian variants of the virus. The more contagious English variant “now affects about half of the people in France who are infected with Covid”, the Prime Minister announced. This variant, which accounted for less than 40% according to figures released a week ago, raises fears of an epidemic explosion because of its greater contagiousness.
▶︎ Curfew at 6 p.m. maintained
Concerning the curfew at 6 p.m., no change is planned. It remains in force everywhere on the territory, even in the Maritime Alps and in the agglomeration of Dunkirk (North), despite the implementation of a partial confinement on weekends. “This decision allowed us to save time, justified Jean Castex. Our economic activity didn’t collapse, our shops were able to stay open, our children were able to go to school in the areas of course that weren’t on holiday. »
Vaccination “continues and is being stepped up”.
“The vaccination campaign is continuing and expanding,” said the Prime Minister, recalling that it was possible, since Thursday, with general practitioners and in companies. The first effects are being felt: the incidence rate has been falling for the past two weeks among the over 80-year-olds and, as a result, the average age of those hospitalised is also falling. In Ehpad, the campaign’s priority target, the vaccination coverage rate with two doses now reaches 50% (80% for the first dose) and the number of deaths, recorded twice a week, has dropped significantly, with 121 deaths on Tuesday (compared to 235 a week earlier).
“Two thirds of the more than 75 people will be vaccinated by the end of March and we will open vaccination to the over 65s at the beginning of April,” the Prime Minister guaranteed. “By the end of February, more than 4 million vaccines will have been administered to more than 3 million people. “The government expects that by mid-May, all people over 50 will be offered a first injection.
A total of 2.6 million people have received at least one dose, of which 1.3 million people have been vaccinated with both doses.
“No reason to delay” AstraZeneca
Alain Fischer, the Chairman of the Orientation and Vaccine Strategy Council, wanted to reassure people about the AstraZeneca vaccine. “There is no reason to consider that this vaccine is of second category. It has its place in the vaccination arsenal,” he said. The product could also be provided to 65-74 year olds, depending on the results of new studies.
The side effects expressed by some young people, “who have a very powerful immune system,” can be mitigated “by taking a paracetamol before the vaccine and then for 48 hours,” said Alain Fischer. “From the point of view of efficacy or tolerance, the data (Editor’s note: concerning AstraZeneca) are quite satisfactory. There is no reason to delay the application of this vaccine. »
Covid-19 treatments
A new synthetic antibody drug has just been authorised in France for the patients most at risk of serious forms, with the hope of avoiding hospitalisation and intensive care. This is the drug developed by the American company Eli Lilly: “83 hospitals have already received thousands of doses of monoclonal antibodies”, explained Olivier Véran. Others “will arrive in France in mid-March”, he announced. In all, the country has ordered tens of thousands of doses of this treatment.
Olivier Véran also spoke about interferon treatment, which is currently being studied in France. “We will know in a few weeks whether this treatment is effective,” the Health Minister said. These are “new hopes” that will complete the “arsenal” against the virus, Olivier Véran added.
▫️ AUDE DEPARTEMENT Same trend as yesterday. The indicators in our Aude departement are coming down nicely and showing an incidence & the positivity rates half of the current national average and certainly much less vompared to the Var & Alpes Maritimes which meams our foreseen trip is now a little uncertain. On top of that, the Var (83) & Alpes Maritimes (06) and neighbouring Bouche du Rhone (13) are part of the 20 departements under surveillance.
▫️ ANCILLARY NOTES FROM A SMALL ISLAND from our correspondent in Britain
✒️ This one is in the town I grew up in, and happened on my birthday:
Police raid illegal rave inside London barbers.
More than 20 people are facing fines after police shut down an illegal party at a south London barber shop. Neighbours reported the large gathering and loud music at the premises on London Road in west Croydon shortly before midnight on February 19.
Inspector Kathy Morteo, of the Met’s south area command, said: ‘Everyone knows that it is neither lawful nor safe for such events to take place while the country is dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. ‘The Health Protection Regulations are in place for good and easily understood reasons, and it is our role to enforce them in London.’
However: A group of 31 of the force’s own officers are facing £200 Covid-19 fines for getting their hair cut by a barber while on duty at a police station. They all had trims from a professional hairdresser at Bethnal Green police station on January 17. Each faces a fine and the two officers that organised the event are under investigation for potential misconduct.
Read more here
Above, but not beyond, the call of duty!
✒️ The divisive dish from Lidl that’s making shoppers feel like they’re in France
We might just wait for travel restrictions to lift again instead…
Boris Johnson’s recent announcement of a roadmap out of lockdown promises light at the end of the tunnel regarding trips abroad. With the government hoping to have all restrictions lifted by June 21, it’s unsurprising that holiday bookingshave skyrocketed this week.
But while travel restrictions are still in place, we’ve still got to take what we can get for now. So it’s welcome news that Lidl shoppers might just have discovered the closest thing any of us are going to get to a visit to the continent.
Posting in the Lidl shoppers UK Facebook group, Lidl fan Tim Jackson posted a picture of what looked like the spoils of a day in the garden.
Lidl’s frozen delicacy might be the closest any of us can get to travelling abroad for a while…
He said: “Hope there’s another French week soon!”Without being able to travel to France for the real thing, The escargots I had tonight we’re absolutely delicious!”.
We have thousands of these in our garden. Please order soon to avoid disappointment!
▫️ MUSIC
Watching, in the background, a TV program about Serge Gainsbourg and they just played this song “sung” by our national B.B which certainly was popular aquite while back.
🎶 / 🎶 / 🎶
▫️ PIC OF THE DAY
▫️ SATIRE
▫️ NEWS FROM ACROSS THE POND 🇺🇸
▫️ FUN Friday funnies from Paul (Part I)
◻︎A few one-liners to start….
‣I got asked if I’d lost my sense of taste recently at a covid test centre – I reassured them I’d not and that I always dressed like this
‣Did you hear about the claustrophobic astronaut? He just needed a little space.
‣Had Lunch with a beautiful vegan, I said let’s meat again!
‣Few women admit their age; Few men act it.
‣If you get caught outside in the fog…are you mystified?
‣A sign I spotted on the door of our local music shop… Gone Chopin…. Bach in a minute. I wondered if he had a Chopin Lizst?
◻︎I was shopping in an unfamiliar mall last week when, to my horror, a woman behind a tinted door to my right fell onto the ground, flipped over and disappeared into a corner. I know CPR so rushed in to assist her, only to find myself in a gym!
◻︎ If I ever use “there” instead of “their” and “your” instead of “you’re” in the same post, I’ve been kidnapped and I am signaling for help.
◻︎ The first applicant of the day at the Pearly Gates explains that his last day was not a good one.
“I came home early and found my wife lying naked in bed. She claimed she had just got out of the shower. Well, her hair was dry and I checked the
shower and it was completely dry too. I knew she was into some hanky-panky and I began to look for her lover. I went onto the balcony of our
9th-floor apartment and found the guy clinging to the rail by his fingertips.
I was so angry that I began bashing his fingers with a flower pot. He let go and fell, but his fall was broken by some awnings and bushes. On seeing he was still alive I found superhuman strength to drag our antique cedar chest to the balcony and throw it over. It hit the man
and killed him. At this point the stress got to me and I suffered a massive heart attack and died.”
Saint Peter thanked him for his story and sent him on to the waiting room.
The second applicant said that his last day was his worst.
“I was on the roof of an apartment-building working on the AC equipment and I stumbled over my tools and toppled off the building. I managed to
grab onto the balcony rail of a 9th-floor apartment but some idiot came rushing out on the balcony and bashed my hands with a flower pot.
I fell but hit some awnings and bushes and survived, but as I looked up I saw a huge chest falling toward me. I tried to crawl out of the way but failed
and was hit and killed by the chest.”
Saint Peter couldn’t help but chuckle as he directs the man to the waiting room. Saint Peter is still chuckling when his third customer of the day enters.
He apologizes and says, “I doubt that your last day was as interesting as the two fellows that arrived here just before you.”
“I don’t know,” replies the man. “Picture this, I’m naked, hiding in thiscedar chest…”
▫️ CARCASSONNE
For those who are not in town, this is the state of the work in progress Place Carnot.
▫️ WEATHER
At 10am for the Carcassonne weather forecast, a few clouds should not spoil the sunny skies. The wind will reach about 14 km/hour. In the afternoon at 4pm in Carcassonne, the sky should remain clear. The wind will reach about 17 km/h.
▫️ VENDEE GLOBE
The boat TSE-4myplanet with skipper Alexia Barrier is the next one to arrive in 24th place.
▫️ WALKS
Busy today but planning a nice tour for tomorrow
▫️ SOME LINKS I LIKE TO USE
