John Lichfield Profile picture
Sep 16, 2020 8 tweets 2 min read Read on X
Time for another French Covid numbers update. There have been 7 days of figures since my last thread. The trend remains worrying but not yet alarming. The numbers of cases, deaths and hospital patients are growing steadily but not – yet – exploding as they did in late March. 1/7
The government – or rather mostly Emmanuel Macron in person, according to Le Monde – thinks that drastic new action to control the strengthening pandemic is a/ not yet needed and b/ might be counter-productive. Government strategy is “wait and see” plus local crackdowns 2/7
There were 9,784 new cases in the 24hrs up to 2pm today, after three days when the stats fell into the 6 to 8,000 range. The rolling average for the last 7 days is 8,755, compared to 7,320 a week ago and 5,518 the week before that. Rising…not exploding 3/7
There were 46 C19 deaths in the last day after 9 yesterday. The 7-day average is now 35.8, compared to 31.2 last week and 21 in the week before that. Worrying but not yet alarming. 4/7
On the other hand the number of acute cases is rising steeply. There were 803 C19 patiemts in intensive care tonight, compared to 599 a week ago and just over 400 at the end of July. 5/7
There are 5,819 C19 patients in French hospitals tonight compared to 5,003 a week ago and 3,464 two weeks ago. This is still far below the hospital and ICU populations at the peak of the “first wave” in April – 7,200 and 33,000. 6/7
The govt's wait and see strategy –not fully admitted or explained – is based on signs that the rate of positive testing has stabilised at around 5.4%. In some areas, notably Paris, the rate is falling.
A 2nd wave but a small one? Start of an autumn/winter crisis? On verra. 7/7
In 4/7 the mortality figure for yesterday should have read 49. Not 9

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More from @john_lichfield

Jun 30, 2023
There was a 3rd night of rioting – the worst so far – in multi-racial suburbs across France after a 17 years old boy was shot dead in the Paris suburbs by a traffic cop on Tuesday am. The dead boy, Nahel, 17, was driving a bright yellow Mercedes registered in Poland. In Poland?1/
The Polish reg of the car has been little commented in the French media. It is, in fact, not so strange. For several years there has been an on-line rental business of doubtful legality renting Polish-reg Mercs and Porsches to young men in the French “banlieues”. 2/
The expensive cars are often used in “rodeos” – demonstrations of wheelies and other edgy driving skills – in suburban housing estates. They are rented on-line for between Euros 300 and Euros 3,000 a day. 3/
Read 7 tweets
Mar 11, 2022
Weekly French Covid thread

A strange week. Having plunged from a great height, the average number of Covid cases has increased for five days in a row. The running average is now 54,372 - about 2% up on last week. 1/6
A very similar pattern can be seen in the UK (see @nicolasberrod graph). I’ve seen no clear explanation. Is it the fault of the BA.2 sub variant of Omicron, now over 50% of Fr cases? Or just the effect of a loosening of restrictions?
2/6
Either way, the government seems unconcerned (so far) and expects warmer Spring weather will squash the rebound. Acute care cases/deaths continue to fall sharply. The vaccine pass/indoor masks (except in public transport/care homes) will be suspended from Monday as planned.
3/6
Read 6 tweets
Mar 9, 2022
I’m reliably told there is a good (or bad) reason why Priti Patel and Boris Johnson refuse to allow Ukrainian refugees to apply for UK visas when they arrive in Calais. The reason? To block legal applications by asylum-seekers from other countries. 1/8
Someone who has been directly involved in UK visa operations in the past points out to me that any UK visa office in Calais would, in theory, be open to non-Ukrainian applicants (ie the Calais boat people from Afghanistan, Syria and elsewhere|).
2/8
They could go to the Calais UK visa office and submit an asylum application. That’s the last thing the Home Office wants, I’m told. It would expose the cynicism and hypocrisy of Patel’s “two-tier” borders policy. 3/8
Read 8 tweets
Feb 4, 2022
Weekly French Covid Thread

A good week. The 5th (or some say 6th) wave of Covid is now falling fast.
Infections – 98.9% Omicron – have dropped by one fifth in 7 days.
They are still averaging 274,352 a day, however. Acute cases and deaths, though stable, remain very high. 1/10
The government started to remove social restrictions, as planned, on Wed of this week. No more limits on numbers in stadiums, theatres etc. No more compulsory home working or masks outdoors. From 16 Feb, clubs can reopen. Standing in bars and eating on trains can resume. 2/10
The health minister Olivier Véran said yesterday: “the worst is behind us”. Rules on testing in schools would probably be eased from next week, he said. The vaccine pass may be scrapped before its promised end in July.
Hmm... just before the April elections? 3/10
Read 10 tweets
Jan 21, 2022
Weekly French Covid Thread

A confusing week. Omicron infections have rocketed again – partly perhaps because a sub-variant of “O” has invaded France.
Nonetheless, the government has announced a timetable for gradual relaxation of social protections from 2 Feb.

1/12
The shedding of controls, such as working-from-home and max numbers for restos etc, may seem risky with cases running at 400,000+ a day for last 3 days. It’s based on accumulating evidence that Omicron is much less dangerous than other versions of C19. It's also electoral.
2/12
The electoral motive is not just my assessment. (1st round of voting in Pres election is 79 days away). Govt officials speak of a need to “give Fr people” a perspective that restrictions are about to decline. Pr. Macron will formally enter the race soon – prob early Feb. 3/12
Read 12 tweets
Jan 14, 2022
Weekly French Covid Thread
The Omicron pandemic is raging but rising less rapidly; Delta is declining slowly (see Covidtracker graphic). Overall, there are reasons to hope that a plateau will be reached next week. In France as elsewhere, Omicron is causing less acute illness 1/10
Omicron is now 90% of new cases in France, up from 80% last week. Together the variants are producing an average of 293,867 cases a day – a 47% increase on last week, after 64% the week before. But (good news alert) acute care and deaths are “only” 5% and 3% up.
2/10
There is some push-back against Fr govt's handling of the pandemic. Teachers went on strike against school mask/testing rules and won concessions. The Senate has delayed the move from “health pass” to vaccine pass. Outdoor masks in Paris have been struck down by a tribunal. 3/10
Read 10 tweets

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