Lunchtime News Wednesday 14th Ocotber 2020

Local 

Brawl outside of town hall - A man has died from his injuries after a fight broke out in front of the town hall of La Trinité in Nice on Tuesday afternoon.

An investigation has been opened into the brawl which is believed to have broken out between two rival drug trafficking gangs.

Trial for rapid screening tests - A 12 day trial of large scale testing for Covid-19 using ultra rapid antigenic screening tests is to start today in Nice.

The test differs from PCR tests thanks to their rapidity of results and will be available in Nice.

Already available in many countries, the tests give results in less than 30 minutes – compared to 48 hours for PCR.

Intensive care - The head of the public hospital group the APHP Martin Hirsch, has warned that hospitals in Paris could have 90% of their intensive care beds filled by the end of next week.

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to announce further restrictions in a televised address this evening at 7.55pm on TF1 and France 2. French media reports suggest that cities considered hotspots, including Paris, could face evening curfews.

Covid-19 figures - Latest national figures published by Public Health France have shown that an additional 226 people with Covid-19 were admitted to intensive care on Tuesday. To date 1,633 are currently in intensive care and 32,933 people have died from the virus in France.

Hospital staff still working despite being infected - Meanwhile according to reports the situation in France’s hospitals is becoming increasingly difficult.  As hospitals are faced with lack of personnel medical staff who have tested positive for Covid-19 are still having to work, as is the case at Nantes University Hospital.

The CGT secretary of Nantes University Hospital, Olivier Terrien has said he is “shocked by such practices” adding that the hospital is playing Russian roulette with the lives of patients and staff.  

Volunteers for vaccine trials - In less than ten days, 25,000 people of all ages have volunteered in France to test potential vaccines against Covid-19.

The National Institute of Health and Medical Research launched the appeal on October the 1st and say a record number of volunteers have since come forward.

Two types of clinical trials are to be carried out and are expected to start by the end of the year.