Lunchtime News.Friday.31st July 2020

Heatwave-People with underlying health conditions as well as parents of young children and the elderly are advised to take extra precautions today and tomorrow with a heatwave sweeping across the region.

Afternoon temperatures are forecast to reach the low to mid 30’s in coastal areas and the high 30’s inland in the Var.

The public is warned to not take part in any strenuous physical activity , not go out in the sun in the hottest part of the day and to try and spend one or two hours in an air conditioned environment such as a shopping centre or cinema.

Covid-19- Cases of coronavirus are still rising around France with authorities saying that around a thousand new positive tests are being registered daily.

Numbers of those requiring hospital treatment are stable at 5,375 with 381 in intensive care.

France reported 16 new deaths from the virus over the past 24 hours with a total of 30,254 people dying from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.

Authorities stress the need to maintain social distancing and good hand hygiene as the fight to stamp the virus out continues.

Ikea-Workers at the new IKEA superstore at Nice St Isidore have resumed work following a strike over possible redundancies.

130 workers downed tools on Tuesday in protest over rumours of sackings by the operator Vinci Construction and its subsidiary.

Work has now resumed after unions met with management who have promised that nobody will be made redundant without proper consultations.

The new IKEA store was due to open in November 2021 but work has been delayed owing to lockdown and it’s now set to open its doors early in 2022.

Missing girl-Police in the Var are appealing for information about a 16 year old girl who’s been missing from her home in La Garde since Wednesday.

“Manon” is 1 meter 75 tall .of normal body shape and has long brown hair.

When last seen she was wearing a crop-top ,black Adidas jogging pants and black trainers. She left home without any money or her mobile phone.

Anyone who sees her is asked to call police immediately on 17 or 112.

In National News.

Masks-The French Health Minister Olivier Veran says that he’s considering making face masks mandatory in all public places in northern France as cases of Covid-19 spiral.

Mr Veran says that he’s concerned about a second spike of the disease that seems to be sweeping across neighbouring Belgium which now has the highest number of deaths per capita with 85 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants.

The Minister says that he’ll continue to discuss the issue with regional health authorities and police before making a decision.

Renault-The French carmaker Renault has reported its largest ever half-year loss with revenue slashed by a third as showrooms worldwide were emptied because of coronavirus.

Net losses hit 7.3 billion euros compared with a profit of 970 million euros in the same period last year.

The results underline the challenges being faced by new Renault CEO Luca de Meo who was brought in earlier this month to revamp the firm following a series of bad decisions and the ousting of former boss Carlos Ghosn last year on financial misconduct charges.