"We should continue isolating ourselves" says village mayor who recovered from coronavirus

Record ID: 1464010

  • Title: "We should continue isolating ourselves" says village mayor who recovered from coronavirus
  • Date: 15th March 2020
  • Summary: LA BALME DE SILLINGY, FRANCE (MARCH 15, 2020) (REUTERS) SIGN AT ENTRANCE OF TOWN READING "LA BALME DE SILLINGY" VARIOUS OF PEOPLE VOTING WITH STAFF FROM MAYOR OFFICE WEARING MASKS AND GLOVES VOTERS SANITIZING THEIR HANDS BEFORE TAKING BALLOTS ON TABLE VOTER TAKING BALLOT AND GOING INTO BOOTH VARIOUS OF THE INCUMBENT MAYOR OF LA BALME DE SILLINGY, FRANÇOIS DAVIET, MONITORING THE VOTE (SOUNDBITE) (French) INCUMBENT MAYOR OF LA BALME DE SILLINGY, FRANÇOIS DAVIET, SAYING: "I have completely recovered now. No fever anymore, no symptoms anymore, no diarrhoea anymore, everything is back to normal after 19 days, this is not bad." JOURNALIST ASKING (French) "How was these 2 weeks of isolation and quarantine?" "There were two periods, a period relatively calm and then there were four, five days quite difficult." VOTER SANITIZING HANDS VOTERS TAKING BALLOT AND GOING INTO BOOTH VARIOUS OF PEOPLE VOTING (SOUNDBITE) (French) INCUMBENT MAYOR OF LA BALME DE SILLINGY, FRANÇOIS DAVIET, SAYING: "I am very happy that we took these measures, because today, I would say that La Balme de Sillingy does not report many new cases, so it proves the efficiency of the isolation measures. We need to continue to implement them and we need to implement them all together if we want them to be efficient." VARIOUS OF STAFF FROM MAYOR OFFICE WEARING MASKS AND GLOVES CHURCH OF LA BALME DE SILLINGY WITH OUTDOOR MARKET ON SQUARE VARIOUS OF WOMEN BUYING VEGETABLES (SOUNDBITE) (French) LOCAL GROWER, FABIEN, SAYING: "The measures are little bit vague and I think they are too drastic regarding some things. They are not going to close supermarket like Casino and they are going to close small restaurants, small convenience stores. Sorry, but when you manage to put ten people in La Balme de Sillingy news agent, this is already a lot. So, let's say, there are a lot of excessive measures put in place. So, me, I don't know if next Sunday there will be a market or not, for now, we are in the dark and I think day after day we will have more, especially the measures that have been taken last night that are even more drastic than the ones that were taken on Thursday - to close schools, It's another step and, frankly, I don't know where they will stop." VARIOUS OF VEGETABLES AND FRUITS STAND AT OUTDOOR MARKETS CHEESE AND COLD CUTS SUPPLIER AT STAND (SOUNDBITE) (French) MEAT SUPPLIER, SYLVIE BERTHET, SAYING: "We were talking about it with my colleagues, we are afraid that the market will be closed next week, if all our markets are closed, where do we sell? What do we do? How do we do it? So, this is certain death for a producer." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE BUYING SUPPLIES AT OUTDOOR MARKET (SOUNDBITE) (French) CITIZEN OF LA BALME DE SILLINGY, MARIE-HELENE PENOT, SAYING: "We did what was needed to be done. So, personally, we stopped when it was necessary our choir and we resumed this week, but we will stop again, and we will wait. I have family members who own a restaurant in Annecy, it is a disaster, for others it's less serious. But if we want to get back to a normal life in the coming months, we have to go through this." VARIOUS OF CLOSED CAFE AND RESTAURANTS CLOSED FLOWER SHOP CLOSED SCHOOL SIGN ON SCHOOL DOOR READING (French) "CORONAVIRUS: AS A PRECAUTION, ALL MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS ARE CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC"
  • Embargoed: 29th March 2020 16:22
  • Keywords: La Balme de Sillingy coronavirus election mayor survivor
  • Location: LA BALME DE SILLINGY, FRANCE
  • City: LA BALME DE SILLINGY, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Health/Medicine
  • Reuters ID: LVA001C55WVGN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: French town of La Balme de Sillingy, one of the first identified coronavirus clusters in the country, held their local election on Sunday (March 15) under tight sanitary precaution as the outbreak spread in the country.
    The incumbent mayor, François Daviet, standing for re-election, tested positive for the virus and was put in isolation in hospital and in quarantine for 19 days.
    But he's since recovered.
    "No fever anymore, no symptoms anymore, no diarrhoea anymore, everything is back to normal", he said.
    The 5000 inhabitant's of the Haute-Savoie town was one of the first clusters in France and implemented drastic measures to contain the virus more than two weeks ago. The schools, the outdoor market and the public buildings were closed and people were encouraged to stay at home.
    The number of new cases is decreasing, said the mayor, proving the efficiency of the isolation.
    But the measures that were supposed to end on March 14, had a huge impact on businesses. Shop owners thought they would finally get back on their feet, but the government on Saturday (March 14) ordered the shutdown of most shops, restaurants and entertainment facilities after the number of coronavirus cases doubled in 72 hours.
    The local outdoor market producers are worried that they will not be able to sell their products after already two weeks of inactivity.
    Shoppers were happy to see their outdoor market re-open on Sunday, and for Marie-Helene Penot the isolation measures are difficult but necessary.
    "If we want to get back to a normal life in the coming months, we have to go through this", she said.
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