The explosion in the number of Covid-19 patients saturates the health system in Martinique and Guadeloupe. Overseas Minister Sébastien Lecornu is visiting the two territories this week. He will be joined on Thursday by Olivier Véran.
Martinique had already imposed an evening curfew, but the stricter lockdown of Covid-19, scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., will force stores, hotels and non-essential beaches to close and limit people’s movements. The fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has been raging in Martinique for a month, in the volcanic north of the island, the beach of Anse Turin offered, in the afternoon of Monday, August 9, a seemingly normal show for this period of major vacations.
The Martinique authorities have also advised tourists to leave the island
331 people are currently hospitalized for Covid-19 on the island whose population is just over 372,000. 49 people are in intensive care, 11 people have died in the last 48 hours.
For residents and holidaymakers alike, these new restrictions, which came into force at 7pm on Tuesday and are expected to last for three weeks, are draconian: closure of cultural and leisure venues – which had been able to remain open during the first phase of the containment, which began on 30 July -, beaches that are inaccessible to the public, and restrictions on travel within a radius of one kilometer of the home. In addition, the curfew is maintained between 7 pm and 5 am.
40% of the cases are less than 40 years old
In a few WhatsApp messages, the news spread very quickly to Anse Turin and broke the mood. “We’re leaving on Friday. And it’s a relief to leave,” said Willy (who did not want to give his name), a thirty-year-old Parisian staying with his father since early July with his three children. His wife, Vanessa, had joined the family on the 20th. I had to bring forward my flight by four days because of the entry into force of the compelling reasons [for travel between Martinique and France],” smiled the young woman. “We weren’t too bothered by the first lockdown. But now, no activities, no beach … it will be hard with the children,” grinned Willy. Following the example of this West Indian family visiting relatives, Stanislas Cazelles has invited “all people in a tourist situation who are vulnerable to leave the territory.
Residents will also have to limit their movements to a maximum radius of one kilometer around their homes.
Cazelles acknowledged that the new rules were “strict” and said they would be lifted as soon as the health situation allows. The measures will be reassessed, he said, “in 15 days.”
