French Health Minister Olivier Veran said this morning that 1.3 million vaccines have been delivered to pharmacists, doctors and private nurses in 2 days. He said that there were a record 437,000 injections yesterday and 50 intensive care beds are being opened for Covid-19 patients every day.
Locally, the Regional Health Agency for the Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur Region has stated that the Alpes-Maritimes has a vaccination rate of 27.8%, which is higher than the national average and among the highest in France. It said that to date, in the Alpes-Maritimes 302,925 people have been vaccinated and 78,441 of them have received both injections.
The Agency also said that since the start of the year, 30 out of the 58 patients who had been transferred to intensive care units in other regions have been able to return to their homes or to a facility adapted to their needs. The agency thanked the families of the patients involved.
Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi and deputy mayor Anthony Borre visited the vaccination centre at the Palais des Expositions in Nice this morning. The municipality is aiming to vaccinate 5,000 people a day at the centre and a live vaccination counter has been set up on the website nice.fr to show the current number of people vaccinated each day.
HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco has sent a letter to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The prince said he was very sorry to learn this morning of the passing away of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. He expressed his most sincere condolences and deep sympathy and said that he and his family send their heartfelt thoughts and prayers.
Police in Corsica have broken up a party attended by about one hundred people. Two people were arrested at the premises in Bastia, which the Prefect said represented a serious risk in terms of fire safety because the fire exits had been barracaded from the inside.
Municipal police officers in Cannes are being equipped with cameras. The cameras are attached to the uniform of officers. They are infrared and can record images at night and their triggering is accompanied by a red light signal to alert the people being filmed.
Trains have been interupted between Antibes and Cannes early this evening because of an accident near Golfe Juan. Services are gradually returning to normal.
BUSINESS
Airline Jet2 is extending the suspension of its flights and holidays up to and including 23 June. Affected customers will automatically receive a refund. The company said that over a year after international travel was first suspended, they are still to receive "a clear framework on how to restart international travel".
UK retailer Frasers Group, which owns Sports Direct and House of Fraser, amongst other brands, has said the pandemic will lead to a non-cash writedown of 200 million pounds in its freehold property and various other assets. The figure is double the amount it estimated in February. It said that it had noted the continuing government and government advisor pronouncements regarding "third waves" and normality being "some way off", meaning, in it's view, that "further restrictions" are "almost certain".
SPORT
Football... Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish is expected to be out for another two weeks because of injury. Grealish has missed seven Premier League games as well as England's recent World Cup qualifying matches.
In the English Premier League this weekend, this evening Fulham play Wolves. On Saturday Manchester City face Leeds, Liverpool play Aston Villa and Crystal Palace play Chelsea. On Sunday, Burnley play Newcastle, West Ham face Leicester, Tottenham play Manchester United and Sheffield United play Arsenal. There are two games on Monday West Brom against Southampton and Brighton against Everton.
In Paris, left-wing and far-right MPs have joined forces to pass a new measure against tax optimisation by multinational corporations, during the firs...
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A ceremony took place in Nice this morning to mark the fifth anniversary of the attack at the Notre-Dame Basilica ...
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Income from fixed speed cameras in France fell by €76 million in 2024, dropping to €889 million from €965 million in 2023. The fall comes after many c...
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There’s been a large increase in unemployment in France. Just over 3.2 million people were completely unemployed in the third quarter...
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Carmaker Renault has issued a recall in France for six car models after a fault was found in the automatic handbrake system that could cause vehicles ...
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