2020.08.24 The Guardian
French regional health authorities on Sunday said there had been a “very worrying” outbreak of coronavirus at a naturist holiday resort on France’s Mediterranean coast, with some 100 holidaymakers so far testing positive.
The Cap d’Agde resort in the Herault region, hugely popular among naturists, saw 38 positive tests on Monday and another 57 on Wednesday, the regional health authority said.
The rate of infection was four times higher among naturists in the resort than in the village itself, it added. Another 50 holidaymakers had also tested positive after returning home and results of more tests were expected next week.
The figures are “very worrying” it said, adding an alert had been issued over the resort.
The outbreak comes as France on Sunday reported almost 4,900 new coronavirus cases over 24 hours, its highest figure since May, as the health minister, Olivier Veran, acknowledged there were “risks” in the surging infection levels nationwide.
Testing has been ramped up to 700,000 tests a week, Veran added. He emphasised however that the situation was “not the same as it was in February” when the virus began spreading in France. Currently, Covid-19 is circulating four times as much among under 40s as the over 65s.
Veran insisted a new nationwide lockdown was “not on the agenda” and unlike in the spring “we have more knowledge and means at our disposal” with targeted local measures the best action to take.
France has more than 280,000 confirmed coronavirus infections, and 30,518 deaths, the third-highest toll in Europe after the UK and Italy.
