Lunchtime News Thursday 28th May 2020

Coronavirus - Created in Montpellier, and reported as the first reliable saliva test for Covid-19 which will be marketed in June, EasyCov has been created and developed by a consortium of French companies and researchers, mainly based in Montpellier.

The announcement of the creation of a reliable saliva test, easy to perform and with a quick result (less than an hour), is considered a “considerable advance placing France and Montpellier at the heart of global research”.

The first clinical trials carried out by the Montpellier University Hospital with 180 people (patients and caregivers) have given satisfactory results.  The test will be sold for 20 euros.

Weather warning - Météo France has place the Alpes-Maritimes on a yellow weather alert with thunderstorms forecast from 1pm today. The warning is in place until 9pm this evening.

School pupil tests positive for Covid-19 - A 10 year old child has tested positive for Covid-19 at a primary school in La Trinité in Nice.  The student, enrolled at the La Plana school, tested positive and all health security measures were immediately taken, in particular on contact cases.

Tests were carried out on everybody at the school and premises were disinfected on Wednesday.

Fifteen students, two teachers and two teaching assistants identified as contact cases will be confined for seven days and will be tested. Their families have also been notified. The school will reopen today.

Nice Côte d’Azur Airport - Nice Côte d´Azur airport has announced a gradual resumption of air traffic with a minimum of 19 destinations from June.

The airport will offer from the beginning of June several dozen connections to the main cities of France and European capitals. This gradual upturn in air traffic should be amplified in July and then in August, depending on the lifting of restrictions which could be announced in the coming weeks.

Measures have been put in place to guarantee a very high level of health security, with increased measures in terms of air and surface disinfection, flow management as well as terminal ventilation.

To date, not all airlines have finalized their flight program, but the first trend is already making it possible to draw a tight network with the main French and European destinations. This beginning of recovery should increase in July, with the opening of new lines from Nice, such as Caen or Brest (Volotea).

For France, at least 10 cities will be linked to the Côte d'Azur:

• Paris Charles-de-Gaulle (Air France, easyJet);

• Lyon (Air France);

• Lille (easyJet);

• Toulouse (easyJet);

• Nantes (easyJet, Volotea);

• Bordeaux (easyJet);

• Bastia, Ajaccio, Figari and Calvi (Air Corsica).

For Europe, 9 cities will again be connected to the Côte d'Azur:

• London (British Airways and easyJet);

• Frankfurt (Lufthansa);

• Brussels (Brussels Airlines);

• Geneva and Zurich (easyJet, Swiss)

• Vienna, Sofia, Budapest and Krakow (Wizz Air).

All of the flights currently announced by the airlines remain subject to possible adjustments to the traffic restrictions. Travellers are advised to check with their companies to ensure that their flights are maintained.

Nice Côte d'Azur Airport is the second airport in France after Paris with 14.5 million passengers in 2019, 120 direct destinations and 57 regular airlines serving 44 countries. Outside Paris, it is also the only French airport to offer 6 long-haul destinations on scheduled flights (Bahrain, Dubai, Doha, New York, Montreal and Beijing)

The Aéroports de la Côte d'Azur Group manages the Nice Côte d´Azur, the second airport hub in France, Cannes Mandelieu and the Gulf of Saint-Tropez airports. It is number 2 in Europe in terms of business aviation. The regular helicopter connection between Nice and Monaco is also the most important in the world in terms of traffic.