July 25th 2020

Day 128 – 41 st day of de-confinement phase III

Saturday

My 8th week without drinking any alcohol is about to end. I have already decided to extend the exercise by another 1 to 2 weeks.

For the time being, mortality and hospitalisation curves in France remain contained, and low, especially compared to the first peak of the epidemic in the spring. But today, worrying indicators are turning red. First of all, the number of contaminations continues to increase every day. More than 1,000 cases have been recorded… in the 24 hours before yesterday. Thirty-five hundred and fifty-nine new cases were detected last week, a 27 percent increase over the previous week. Clusters are multiplying. Then the number of calls to private doctors or SOS Doctors for suspicions of Covid, which are significantly higher. Finally, the fact that at our borders, in Belgium in the north and in Catalonia in the south, the epidemic is starting again, with reconfinement in progress and the wearing of the compulsory mask everywhere.

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Reproduction rate “R” on the rise

What the latest data shows. According to figures from 21 July, the reproduction factor exceeded 1.5 in three metropolitan regions: in Brittany, where it fell to 1.87 (compared with 2.62 a week earlier), in the Grand Est (1.72) and in New Aquitaine (1.51). It is also 2.26 in Reunion Island. It remains below 1 in three regions and varies between 1 and 1.5 in six others.

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Since Monday July 20th additional rules on where to wear masks apply

It can be a bit confusing. I for one thought that it was already obligatory in all covered buildings. I have even been wearing a mask outside when I felt that there were too many people around like at the weekly outdoor farmers market.

Anyway, here are the official rules before and complemented starting July 20th

Places already concerned by the obligation to wear a mask
Audition, conference, meeting, performance or multipurpose rooms, including theatres and cinemas ;
Restaurants and drinking establishments (the mask can only be removed at the time of eating);
Hotels and boarding houses ;
Games rooms;
Early learning, educational and training establishments, holiday centres, leisure centres without accommodation ;
Libraries, documentation centres;
Worship establishments ;
Covered sports establishments ;
Museums;
Outdoor establishments ;
Marquees, tents and structures;
Hotels-restaurants of altitude;
Floating establishments;
Mountain huts;
Bus and ferry stations, airports.

New places where the wearing of masks is mandatory
Sales shops, shopping centres ;
Administrations and banks;
Covered markets.
In the other categories of establishments, the wearing of masks may be made compulsory by the operator.

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THE VIRUS IS STILL OUT THERE

Pic of the day

The daily dash board

World

Today’s data

France

Occitanie

Information, news and tips

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►France has drawn up a list of 16 countries where the virus circulates very strongly and from which it will no longer be possible to come without proof of a negative PCR test before boarding or on arrival.

The 16 countries concerned to date by this measure are:
South Africa
Algeria
Bahrain
Brazil
United Arab Emirates
USA
India
Israel
Kuwait
Madagascar
Oman
Panama
Peru
Qatar
Serbia
Turkey

From these countries: United Arab Emirates, United States, Bahrain, Panama Mandatory PCR test 72 before departure. Travellers will have to show a negative test before boarding a plane bound for France, otherwise they will be denied boarding. It will therefore no longer be possible to leave for France if you cannot prove that you are not a carrier of the virus.

For all other countries on the list: Mandatory PCR test on arrival. When you come from a country where the virus is circulating strongly, but where it is not possible to be tested, a PCR test will be mandatory on arrival. You will have to be tested as soon as you leave the plane. The laboratory will contact you with your results.

Entry into the national territory from countries with high viral circulation is only authorised in specific derogatory situations, in particular for French nationals and persons living in France. It is not possible to come to France for other people outside these derogations (tourists, foreigners, etc…).

►Clusters in meat processing plants . The study was conducted by scientists from the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, the Helmholtz Centre and the Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology. They came to the conclusion that the transmission takes place in the cutting area for cattle quarters. In this area the air is circulated and cooled to ten degrees Celsius. According to the researchers, the low temperature, low fresh air supply and air circulation through the air conditioning system in the hall – combined with strenuous physical work – promoted the aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Under these conditions, a distance of one and a half to three meters is not sufficient to prevent transmission.

► 109 years ago on July 24, 1911, Hiram Bingham, an American historian from Yale University, accompanied by his guides, Civil Guard Sergeant Carrasco and peasant Melchor Picchu, went to Machu Picchu in Peru and was the first to recognise the importance of the ruins and to study them. Machu Picchu is an ancient 15th century Inca city perched on a rocky promontory. It was abandoned during the collapse of the Inca Empire and before the end of its construction. The sacred city is considered a major work of Inca architecture.