There have been no deaths from Covid-19 in the Var or the Alpes Maritimes in the past 24 hours. The new figures from the Regional Health Agency this afternoon show that five fewer people are in hospital than yesterday in the Alpes Maritimes and two fewer in the Var. However, 119 are still in hospital with the virus in the Alpes Maritimes and 147 in the Var. As far as patients in intensive care are concerned, there are 11 in the Alpes Maritimes and 8 in the Var.
The StopCovid contract tracing app is being debated in the French parliament today. Members of the Assembly have been discussing the app this afternoon and the senate will do so this evening. However, the introduction of the app has already been approved by the National Data Protection Commission and it's expected that it will be available as from this weekend.
Monaco is continuing its free Covid19 screening tests for all of its resident population. From the week of June 2, it will be the Principality's employees' turn to be tested. In order to regulate the number of visitors, tests are in alphabetical order of surname for all residents aged 5 and over. If you missed your turn, you can still take the test this Friday, May 29 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Espace Léo Ferré in Fontvieille and at the Espace Ravel at the Grimaldi Forum. Tests are also available this Saturday, May 30, at the Espace Léo Ferré. The test is voluntary and is confidential.
The Monaco government has put health measures in place for the reopening of beaches and swimming pools from June 2. Limits will be put in place to restrict the number of people present simultaneously on the beach. A distance of at least 1.5 m must be maintained between people,except members of the same household. Wearing a mask is not compulsory, subject to strict respect for health distancing. Groupings are limited to a maximum of 5 people or one family. Enhanced cleaning and disinfection measures are also being put in place. More information is available at covid19.mc
A football match with several hundred spectators took place last night in the Essonne department south of Paris in breach of deconfinement regulations. Public gatherings of more than ten people are prohibited. The incident follows a similar match in Strasbourg recently. The local municipality said that it was filing a complaint for "endangering the lives of others". Meanwhile, a barbeque with about thirty people was broken up by police in the Val-de-Marne department. Projectiles were thrown at officers who responded with tear gas. Three arrests were made.
In other news, authorites in Cannes have announced a clampdown on so-called "Urban Rodeos". An operation was carried out on the streets of the town this morning which led to the seizure of eight unlicensed moto-cross and one quad bike. The Mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard, expressed his thanks to the Municipal and National police who led the operation, which was coordinated between municipal and state services.
BUSINESS
A recovery fund of €750bn has been proposed by the EU Commission to help tackle what it calls an "unprecedented crisis". The fund would be made up of €500bn in grants and €250bn in loans which would be distributed to all the EU's member states. The package still needs the approval of member states.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has said that the ECB expect the eurozone economy to contract by 8 to 12 per cent this year. She said that a more severe scenario was expected than an earlier estimate, which had predicted a contraction of only 5%.
The UK Treasury has said that some 8.4 million workers are now covered by the government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. The scheme allows employees to receive 80% of their monthly salary up to £2,500. 2.3 million claims were made under a similar scheme for self-employed workers.
UK property company British Land has reported a loss of 1.1 billion pounds to the end of March. The company said that about £35m of rent had been deferred for customers experiencing financial challenges as a result of Covid-19. It also said that in March it had collected 68% of rents due overall, with 97% of office rents collected but only 43% of retail rents.
SPORT
Football... Premier League clubs have agreed to resume contact training. The decision was taken following consultation with clubs, players, managers, the Professional Footballers' Association and the League Managers Association. Players will now be able to "train as a group and engage in tackling while minimising unnecessary close contact". Discussions are continuing about when the season can be resumed.
Former Millwall and Motherwell player Christian Mbulu has died at the age of 23. He was most recently playing for Morcambe and the club said that the news of his "sudden and untimely passing has been a shock to us all".
Tennis.. The governing body of tennis in Britain, the LTA, has announced four weeks of domestic tennis tournaments in July, with other matches expected to take place in August. The first four events will be held behind closed doors at London's National Tennis Centre, with other venues to be announced later. The event will be open to the 32 highest ranked singles players.
Hockey.... In the United States, The National Hockey League has announced it will abandon the rest of the regular season. Instead, a 24-team playoff will be held. No games have been played in the NHL since 12 March. The playoffs will be held in two yet to be decided cities. The League said that formal training camps won't open until 1 July at the earliest.
Netball... The decision has been made to finish the Superleague season with immediate effect. No play had taken place since 15 March.
The Côte d'Azur is on alert for a surge in imported cases of dengue fever. Since the beginning of 2024, a record 1,679 imported cases have been record...
Read More
The post-mortem will take place next Monday for a 33-year-old man whose body was recently found in the Var after being missing for more than a month....
Read More
French scientists have been developing technological tools for the past four years to help athletes optimize their training for the Paris 2024 Olympic...
Read More
Nice airport says as many as 60% of flights will be cancelled tomorrow due to a nationwide strike by air traffic controllers....
Read More
After eight months of work and several sea trials, the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle has begun a six-week operation in the Mediterranean, ...
Read More
