Lunchtime News Tuesday 31st March 2020

 

Lunchtime News Tuesday 31st March 2020 

INEOS to produce unit in France to povide hand sanitiser - Faced with the Coronavirus, the world of sport is mobilised in many ways and following an announcement the majority shareholder of OGC Nice, the British company INEOS, has said it is to build a production unit in France of hand sanitizer within 10 days to produce 1 million bottles per month.

Indeed, the company is the largest European producer of the two raw materials needed to make a hospital-grade hand sanitizer - isopropyl alcohol and ethanol - at its sites in Grangemouth, Scotland, in the north of the country. 'Germany in Herne and in Lavéra in the south of France, this last unit should be operational within 10 days.

Faced with the serious shortage of hydroalcoholic gel, INEOS has therefore decided to act and to reserve its production for medical services and first-line care, as well as for the manufacture of hand sanitisers in pocket format for personal use, across France and Europe. The gel will be made available to hospitals, schools, workplaces, pharmacies and supermarkets.

For Sir Jim Ratcliffe, founder and president of INEOS, "it is becoming increasingly evident that contact between the hands and the mouth is a major cause of contagion from Coronavirus. INEOS is the largest European manufacturer of the ingredient in basis of hand sanitizer. We will build three factories; in the UK, Germany and France in 10 days to produce very large reserves. "

The new product will be manufactured in accordance with the specifications of the World Health Organization and will be specially designed to kill bacteria and viruses.

Currently, INEOS factories are already running at full capacity and the company has allocated more of these products for medical purposes and the firm plans to produce both standard and pocket-sized hand sanitizers.

Supplies to hospitals will be free during the crisis period and the public will be able to purchase bottles from retailers.

In addition, INEOS specifies that its production chain also concerns rubber gloves, PVC saline infusions, syringes, ventilators, medical tubes.

In conclusion, Sir Jim Ratcliffe adds that INEOS is "a company with enormous resources and production skills. If we can find other ways to help in the fight against the coronavirus, we are absolutely determined to do our part. . "

Coronavirus  - The Covid-19 pandemic has spread in France and among its European neighbours since February. The pandemic has killed more than 37,000 people worldwide. France had 44,550 confirmed cases on Tuesday March 31, according to data from Public Health France. 

France crossed the threshold of 3,000 dead on March 30. At the departmental level, the Haut-Rhin and the departments of Ile-de-France concentrate the most victims.

In France as elsewhere, the number of confirmed cases follows an exponential growth. However, it is difficult to know the exact extent of the pandemic in France, because the screenings are not systematic, and only the figures for people tested positive for Covid-19 are published.

More precise than the number of cases detected, the number of people hospitalized in intensive care is another relevant indicator for studying the evolution of the epidemic and its severity. 

The weekly report published by Santé publique France provides more information on the profile of people tested positive for Covid-19, in intensive care or deceased. In particular their age: according to data from March 24, the majority of confirmed cases (65%) are less than 65 years old, but the majority of the deceased (78.3%) are more than 75 years old.

If France has been hard hit by the epidemic for several weeks, Italy was the first European country to experience strong growth in the number of confirmed cases, as of the end of February.

We can also observe the evolution of the number of cumulative deaths linked to the coronavirus. 

Some countries, such as Italy and Spain, are hit harder than Japan or South Korea. This is due in particular to the different containment measures taken by each country, as well as to variable screening policies.

Accommodation for caregivers -  France's minister responsible for city housing Julien Denormandie has announced that 5,000 people have made their accommodation available for caregivers on the Appart Solidaire platform. 
The Minister responsible for the City and housing announced on Tuesday, March 31, that 5000 people have made their housing available to healthcare staff on this government platform, launched with Airbnb.

Coronavirus crisis - The Paris public prosecutor's office has already received "a dozen complaints" targeting public decision-makers other than ministers during the coronavirus crisis. The public prosecutor of Paris Rémy Heitz affirmed that "The justice will do its job with rigor and thoroughness but we are not yet to direct these complaints and to take decisions."

The reasons are not always the same and do not concern the same people either. "There are complaints which have been sent to the judicial authority for endangering the life of others, sometimes for failure to assist a person in danger. They are of different kinds. There may be complaints against Ministers and therefore they are directed to the general prosecutor of the Court of Cassation and others are aimed at other directors, public decision-makers, and they are addressed to the Paris prosecutor, "explained Rémy Heitz.

Police - Faced with the coronavirus pandemic, the police in France are on the front line, particularly to enforce containment. According to the Alliance police union and confirmed by the National police, just over 10,000 police have been self isolated due to the Covid-19 and "257" have so far tested positive,

On the issue of protection, the union added "there has been a commitment from the Ministry of the Interior to deliver a million masks in a few days. But we have lost too much time,". "We have been saying since the end of February that the police are on the front line."

Confinement - The weather conditions have encouraged some to take out their surf boards despite it being prohibited because of the coronavirus epidemic. Nearly twenty surfers and kitesurfers have been fined since the start of confinement according to the Prefect of the Finistère. 

"Beaches, coastal paths or towpaths and all access to water  have been prohibited since March 19", reminds the Prefect of the Finistère, who calls everyone to show responsibility and good citizenship in these exceptional circumstances.
 

 

 

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