France Could Be 'overwhelmed' with COVID-19 Second Wave

Second wave of a novel coronavirus in France could overwhelm the country amid exhaustion of the frontline workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior health official has warned.

France will face a months-long COVID-19 epidemic that will overwhelm its health system if something does not change, warned one of its top medical figures.

"The second wave is coming faster than we thought," the Guardian reported, citing the head of the National Council of the Order of Doctors, Patrick Bouet.

Coronavirus
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‘Amid Europe's dramatic virus uptick, fear rises over the quick spread of a second wave of the novel coronavirus in France with a daily record of 16,096 set last week. ’

Warnings by Health Minister Olivier Veran given last week had not been taken seriously, added Bouet.

On September 23, Veran had warned that restrictions in the "red zones" across the country would be tightened due to a spike in the number of confirmed cases.

Since the 19th of September, 53 departments in the country, where the coronavirus incidence per 100,000 inhabitants over a week is higher than 50, have been tagged as "zone of alert" or "red zone".

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In "zone of enhanced alert" where the COVID-19 incidence is more than 150, now including Paris and eight other cities, starting from Saturday, bars started to close at 10 p.m., the limit of attendance to public events was decreased from 5,000 to 1,000 and gatherings of over ten people were prohibited in public spaces like beaches and parks.

In Marseille and Guadeloupe, now "zone of maximum alert," as the COVID-19 incidence has gone beyond 250, in addition to the measures envisioned for the enhanced alert zones, bars and restaurants will be totally closed, according to the Minister.

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Meanwhile, a third of the new clusters in the country were in schools and universities, the French Le Monde newspaper said in a report.

As of Sunday, the total number of COVID-19 cases in France has grown to 552,454, while the death toll stood at 31,675.

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Source-Medindia