- Title: Paris metro commuters take precautions as virus worries mount
- Date: 13th March 2020
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (MARCH 13, 2020) (REUTERS) COMMUTER BLOWING NOSE WITH TISSUE IN METRO STATION PLATFORM ELDERLY WOMAN AND OTHER COMMUTERS INSIDE METRO PASSENGERS INSIDE METRO PEOPLE STANDING INSIDE METRO TWO PEOPLE LEANING ON RAIL BACK TO BACK INSIDE METRO, BODIES NOT TOUCHING LINGERIE SALES WORKER, MARJOLAINE SIRAKIAN, PUTTING HAND GEL (SOUNDBITE) (French) LINGERIE SALES WORKER, MARJOLAINE SIRAKIAN, SAYING: "I put essential oils in my scarf every morning, to protect myself, and I have good immunity, so in this aspect, I'm not too worried." INFORMATION SCREEN INSIDE METRO STATION SHOWING PROPER HYGIENE MEASURES METRO PASSENGER WEARING GLOVES, HOLDING RAIL VARIOUS OF PEOPLE INSIDE METRO (SOUNDBITE) (English) SRI LANKAN NATIONAL LIVING IN PARIS, AMILA, SAYING: "A lot of people travel. Some are doing protection stuff, but some, we don't know. That's the reason, you know. We don't know. Always, preventing is better than cure." PEOPLE STANDING IN METRO, ONE IN MASK, ONE COVERING HIS FACE WITH JACKET SLEEVE GLOVED HAND ON METRO DOOR WOMAN WEARING MASK IN METRO METRO TRAIN ENTERING STATION METRO PASSENGER TOUCHING HIS FACE INFORMATION BOARD ON CORONAVIRUS INSIDE METRO STATION TRAM ON TRACK TRAM PASSENGERS WALKING ON PLATFORM (SOUNDBITE) (French) MEDICAL STUDENT, STEPHANIE (REFUSED TO GIVE LAST NAME), SAYING: "Well (my worry) is more with people who spit in the metro, I see it several times, that's what worries me. And then it's people who cough, but for now I don't really see it, so this doesn't worry me. But then if we wash our hands diligently, I'm not really worried because if we start to get paranoid, we'll stop everything. It's when we think about the thing that we maybe end up having the thing, so I will just continue my normal life, voila." STEPHANIE BOARDING TRAM TRAMS LEAVING STATION (SOUNDBITE) (French) COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY OFFICE WORKER, FABRICE GABLE, SAYING: "We use more gel than we normally do, and we're more careful when we take public transport. We're more careful when we go inside stores, when we go to the cinema, we're generally more careful. I think everyone is being careful in public transport. We're at risk, just like everywhere else, but we must not get paranoid." PEOPLE BOARDING BUS BUSES LEAVING STATION WOMAN INSIDE BUS SCREEN INSIDE BUS FLASHING GOVERNMENT'S INFORMATION WEBSITE AND HOTLINE FOR CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS WOMAN HOLDING BAR INSIDE BUS (SOUNDBITE) (French) MEDICAL LABORATORY WORKER, JOSEPHINE TCHAKOUNTE, SAYING: "The fact that the media talks about it (coronavirus) all the time is traumatising. But if we're talking about it, it means it's really serious and we must be careful." PEOPLE WALKING NEXT TO MOVING TRAM PEOPLE WALKING AWAY FROM TRAM STATION
- Embargoed: 27th March 2020 11:26
- Keywords: France bus coronavirus outbreak metro school closures transport system
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA001C4VXPVR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Commuters on the Paris metro on Friday (March 13) wore gloves to avoid touching handrails and applied hand sanitizer diligently as fears of catching the COVID-19 coronavirus grew.
The French government has banned gatherings of more than 100 people, and is set to close schools, nurseries and universities starting next week.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said public transport services will remain open.
More than 4 million people commute on the 16 metro lines managed by Paris public transport company RATP daily, according to data released in 2015.
The French Health Ministry said on Thursday (March 12) the death toll in France from the coronavirus outbreak had risen to 61 from Wednesday's 48.
It added that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in France had also risen to 2,876 from 2,281, with 129 people in very serious, life-threatening condition.
(Production: Yiming Woo, Michaela Cabrera, Clotaire Achi, Ardee Napolitano) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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