Lunchtime News Tuesday 10th November 2020

Deprogramming of non-urgent care - Doctors from public and private establishments on the Côte d'Azur, have expressed their opposition against the massive deprogramming of non-urgent care due to Covid-19.

Last Friday, while the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region faces a wave higher than the first, hospitals and clinics were ordered to stop everything except cancer treatment, transplants, abortions and some other care considered as urgent, representing more than 90% of surgical activity.

Covid-19 - The French Director General of Health, Jerome Salamon, has said that "the peak of the epedemic is yet to be reached”. Speaking during an update on the coronavirus situation on Monday evening he said that there had been 551 deaths from covid-19 in French hospitals during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 40,987.

Testing for teachers - Ministry of Health has announced that from next week a million antigenic test for Covid-19 will be made available to teaching staff. The tests will be carried out by school nurses on a voluntary basis.

The Ministry of Education has reported that out of the 12 million students in France 3,528 have tested positive to date and 1,165 staff. The Minister estimates that the number of cases of Covid-19 among students and teachers was "under control" in France.

Weapon sales rise in Nice following knife attack - According to reports in French media since the attack in Nice at the Notre-Dame basilica, sales of defense weapons have increased in the city.

The weapons including aerosol or tear gas canisters and electric batons classified as category D, can be purchased and owned freely, but it is prohibited to wear or transport them "without a legitimate reason”.

Carrying or transporting a category D weapon without a legitimate reason can result in a 15,000 euro fine and one year in prison.

According to police the same phenomenon was seen after the attack on July 14th in Nice and at the time, a significant increase in registrations in shooting clubs was recorded.

Small businesses to set up websites online - As the French government attempts to encourage small businesses to launch their business online, due to closure during the lockdown in France, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, has promised traders a "direct aid" of 500 euros from January 2021" to digitalise their activity.

The minister also said he was in favour of relaxing the opening hours of shops, especially on Sundays, to allow them to "make up as much as possible for the lost turnover" once the lockdown is lifted.

With this year’s Black Friday taking place on 27th November the Minister also pointed out that “he was unable to ban online Black Friday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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