Covid state of emergency to end in France's Reunion Island

France announced it will end the state of emergency declared in July in Reunion Island, its department in the Indian Ocean, as Covid cases are going down. Other overseas territories are not seeing the same drop in cases.

Medical staff take care of a Covid-19 patient in the intensive care unit of the Saint-Pierre hospital in La Reunion in July. Since then cases have gone down. © Richard Bouhet/AFP

From 2 to 8 October, La Reunion recorded 241 Covid cases, an incidence rate of 28.2 per 100,000 residents, compared to over 400 per 100,000 residents in July, when President Emmanuel Macron announced the state of emergency.

He said he made his decision because the level of vaccination on the island was “insufficient” and hospitals were feeling pressure.

The Island was under lockdown until 15 September, and a curfew was lifted on 4 October.

The state of emergency will be lifted Friday, said Government spokesperson Gabriel Attal on Wednesday, after a ministerial meeting in which was presented a bill to extend the possibility of the Covid health pass throughout France through July 2022.

Covid cases were particularly high in Franc’s overseas territories, where vaccination rates have not been on par with the mainland.

The state of emergency in French Guyana will be extended through 31 December. The pandemic there “appears to be lessening, but the situation is still tense”, said Attal.

• What's behind mistrust of Covid vaccines in the French Caribbean?

In the Caribbean island of Martinique, Covid cases have started rising again, after going down for eight consecutive weeks.

(with AFP)