the Landes maintain the last restrictions until July 6

The Landes, the department most affected in France by the Covid-19, will maintain the last confinement restrictions until July 6 inclusive, unlike the rest of the country, announced the prefect Cécile Bigot-Dekeyzer.

With a proportion of the delta variant, “significantly higher” than elsewhere, the department “will remain in phase 3 until July 6 inclusive”, and therefore maintain the system of gauges, specified the prefect in videoconference. June 30 marks the end of gauges in enclosed spaces (restaurants, cinemas, stores, etc.) elsewhere in France.

“The health situation is stabilized but very atypical” compared to the rest of the country, with “an incidence rate which oscillates around 50 (cases per 100,000 people), the alert threshold”, detailed the prefect, explaining that “the Landes department has been little impacted by the Covid so far”, and therefore has “low collective immunity”.

The importance of vaccination

The Landes have been experiencing an increase in the Covid epidemic for several weeks, in particular due to the increased circulation of the Delta variant. “The share of the Delta variant is very important,” said Didier Couteaud, delegate of the ARS department. According to him, the “proven” percentage of this variant is currently around 45%. He announced the presence of 7 clusters in the department, 5 in companies and 2 in nursing homes.

Cécile Bigot-Dekeyzer insisted on the importance of vaccination, even if the vaccination rate of the department is 58%, “one of the highest in France but it is necessary that it progresses further”.

Concretely, detailed the prefect, while the gauges are removed in the rest of the country, the gatherings remain limited to 10 people on the public highway in the Landes, the gauges maintained at 65% in cinemas and theaters and at 50 % inside restaurants and casinos, and the limit remains set at 4m2 per person in stores.