Lunchtime News Thursday 27th August 2020

Local

The Var and the Alpes Maritimes have this morning been classified as a red zone - The French government has placed 19 new departments in the red zone for the “active circulation of Covid-19” in addition to Paris and the Bouches-du-Rhône. Prime Minister Jean Castex has this morning included the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes. The total number of departments concerned now stands at 21.

The government notes an "indisputable upsurge of the epidemic" which "is progressing throughout France " with "39 positive cases per 100,000, four times more than a month ago, the Prime Minister added that " epidemic is regaining ground, and now is the time to intervene”.

On Wednesday the Alpes-Maritimes had been placed in the red zone by Belgium with the aim of restricting tourist trips for Belgium nationals.

Fire - A fire has broken out in the town of Digne-Les-Bains in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. The fire was declared in a forest area shortly after 6pm on Wednesday.

Sixty firefighters were onsite to control the blaze which was eventually brought under control.

Tour de France 2020 - Motorist have been reminded that the regions roads will be disrupted and parking limited this weekend due to the Grand depart of the Tour de France taking place in Nice.

Diversions have been set up in Nice and exits on the A8 motorway including eastbound the Promenade des Anglais and Carros will be closed. There will also be disruptions on the city’s tram network.

Commonly used cosmetics put to the test - The magazine 60 Million Consumers has investigated a series of consumer cosmetics including toothpaste. In the survey a series of commonly used cosmetics have been ranked on their risks to health and the environment.

The study published today shows surprisingly that organic products are not always the best rated and that most brands of toothpaste contain titanium dioxide and hydrated silica.

The consumers magazine says that in order to navigate the supermarket shelves, a simple tip to remember is that when choosing between two products, always choose the one with the shortest list of ingredients.

French Prime Minister calls for people to avoid family celebrations - During a press conference this morning Prime Minister Jean Castex has called on people to avoid family celebrations as much as possible in order to limit the spread of coronavirus. Castex said that "the main part of the transmission of the virus is done by daily contacts, in particular in the private spaces".

The head of government has therefore asked the French population "to avoid family celebrations as much as possible, and to respect barrier gestures even when you are with your family at home".

According to figures, currently, "only 20% of contaminations can be explained by clusters, which means that most of the transmission of the virus is through daily contacts, especially in private spaces".

The Prime Minister strongly recalled the need to respect barrier gestures, the wearing of masks and social distancing.