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Month: April 2020

Tourism taking a major hit

by: Stephanie Horsman
15/04/2020

The fallout from the Covid-19 crisis on tourism in Monaco and the French Riviera could potentially be devastating to the local economies.

Since the middle of March when confinement measures were first implemented in Monaco and France, concerns regarding the effect on tourism and tourist-generated incomes have been a hot topic of conversation. Representing 15% of the economies of the Principality and Alpes-Maritimes, the tourism sector is a powerhouse, employing roughly 75,000 people directly, and another 75,000 peripherally in the area.

As the coronavirus spread and government-imposed measures to contain it were put into effect, leisure and business tourism came to a grinding halt. Between Monaco and the Alpes-Maritimes, 620 hotels, 87 resident hotels and 5,900 restaurants have been forced to shutter their doors while innumerable tourist-reliant leisure activity businesses are in a holding pattern waiting for the nightmare to end.

The Principality and it’s French neighbour welcome 11 million tourists every year equalling 70 million overnight stays. More than half these visitors are foreign clients and 16% are travelling to the region for business.

Summer is the peak time, and the region sees no less than 200,000 visitors on a daily basis, with the peak hitting an astounding 650,000 on 15th August weekend.

This translates to a lot of money being lost each day that local businesses remain closed. In a normal year, tourists account for €6 billion in direct revenue, generating €10 billion in turnover for tourism companies. March usually makes up 6.5% of the number of annual tourists, April 8% and May 8.8%. 

This means that even if lockdown measures are completely lifted in May, and that is a huge IF, tourism in 2020 will already be down 15%. June to September account for half the year’s tourists. If borders are not reopened and if travellers are reluctant or financially unable to travel, this means the region could be seriously hit in the pocketbook.

Already, millions have been forfeited with the cancellation of yearly anticipated events, such as the Monaco Grand Prix and the Rolex Masters Tennis Tournament, as well as the now-indefinite postponement of the Cannes Film Festival, which was until yesterday still holding out for a mid-July run.

If the crisis conditions continue into summer, belts will be worn tighter as job losses skyrocket and businesses unwillingly close. The effects of this disaster would be felt well beyond the summer months, possibly taking years to fully recover from.

 
 

No new Covid-19 cases since Sunday

by: Stephanie Horsman
15/04/2020

Monaco’s health authorities have reported no new cases of the coronavirus since a single case on Sunday, keeping the total number of people who have tested positive for the virus at a steady 93.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were banner days for the Principality in the fight against the Covid-19 virus. No new cases were reported over the course of three days and only a single case was detected on Sunday.

Six people who had been diagnosed with the disease have now been declared fully recovered, including high-profile cases such as HSH Prince Albert II and Minister of State Serge Telle.

Nine patients are currently in hospital, two of whom are in intensive care. These patients are the ones who have displayed only the most severe symptoms. Health authorities have been monitoring the less severe cases remotely as the patients convalesce at home through the Health Monitoring Centre that was set up specifically for this purpose. To date, there are 116 such patients using the service.

Health authorities are attempting to keep as many people at home as possible in order to keep the hospital from being overwhelmed by minor cases, allowing them to provide care not only for those suffering with coronavirus, but also those in need of other types of urgent medical assistance.

 

Photo: Victoria Cellun, all rights reserved Monaco Life
 
 

Masks, schools reopening next step in crisis

by: Stephanie Horsman
15/04/2020

Monaco’s Minter of State, Serge Telle, has revealed what the government policy surrounding the health crisis will look like over the coming weeks.

In an interview with Monaco Matin, Mr Telle spoke about confinement deadlines, school re-openings and precautions being taken by the government in this next phase of coronavirus health management.

According to Mr Telle, 3rd May is still the date set to gradually start lifting lockdown rules, if the situation allows. Schools will be re-opened on 11th May, including creches, primary schools, colleges, and high schools.

“The Sovereign confirmed it to me Tuesday morning. It is not imaginable for a second that we can reopen them before France,” said Mr Telle. “We are completely nestled within French national territory. Through Patrice Cellario, (Monaco’s Interior Minister) a working group will reflect on how the recovery should be done. Will children have to wear masks? In any case, they will have to respect the rules whether they are healthy carriers or asymptomatic, including social-distancing to protect their teachers. This will be done in coordination with the Academy of Nice.” 

On the subject of masks, which was the topic of much debate in recent weeks, the government of the Principality has done a bit of a volte face, primarily due to the fact that masks are now available in sufficient numbers to be given to the entire population. This breakthrough was due to near-heroic efforts to procure masks, both via local producers and orders placed abroad, several weeks ago.

“This week, we will start distributing masks for the most vulnerable people. This will be detailed by Didier Gamerdinger (Minister of Social Affairs and Health) in the coming days. We will start soon enough so that the whole population will be endowed, whatever the date of deconfinement. It is an absolute objective. We will certainly implement this policy according to which people will have to move with masks when they leave their home.”

Systematic testing of the country’s most vulnerable and those showing symptoms will also start to be carried out through blood tests in the near future.  

Finally, with regards to restaurants and bars, the minister said that whilst it was “not impossible” that Monaco will re-open them before France, it was also not likely as it is not a priority at the moment.

 
 

Watch the Nutcracker Company

by: Cassandra Tanti
14/04/2020

The Monte-Carlo Ballet’s Casse-Noisette Compagnie, choreographed by Jean-Christophe Maillot, will be broadcast this week to help keep everyone entertained during confinement.
Now is the time to soak in as much culture as possible as a variety of institutions in Monaco offer virtual culture trips, including performances by the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra and short videos of Monaco released by the Audiovisual Institute.
The Monte-Carlo Ballet is also generously keeping people entertained and satisfying their thirst for culture with a series of broadcasts of their shows. On both Wednesday 15th and Friday 18th April at 5pm, the Nutcracker Company will be broadcast on Monaco Info and France 3 PACA.
It follows the showing of Monte-Carlo Ballet’s La Belle last week.
This week’s performance will last for one hour and 40 minutes and involves the participation of students from the Princess Grace Academy, Bolshoï Theater stars Olga Smirnova and Artem Ovcharenko, and the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Nicolas Brochot.
Stay tuned because the ballet will be sharing many more shows from their repertoire in the weeks to come.
 
Photo: Ballet de Monte-Carlo
 

Police numbers strengthened during holiday

by: Cassandra Tanti
14/04/2020

Monaco’s police officers will be out in force this Easter holiday period ensuring residents are maintaining strict confinement measures.
These next two weeks technically mark Easter school holidays, a time for families to embrace the outdoors and the beautiful spring sunshine.
Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus crisis, lockdown measures are in place in Monaco until at least 3rd May.
To ensure people don’t flout the rules, the government has issued a warning to residents, saying police numbers in Monaco will be boosted over the holiday period, adding that “containment measures must be observed more than ever.”

© Direction de la Communication / Manuel Vitali

On Easter Saturday, four checkpoints were established at the borders of the Principality, with controls on 1,032 vehicles, 351 two-wheelers and 148 pedestrians. Eight reports were issued.
The fire brigade’s drone was also used to make sure people were not gathering in crowds.
© Direction de la Communication / Manuel Vitali

Since 19th March, authorities have stopped and checked 28,518 vehicles in Monaco, 5,547 two-wheelers, 6,413 pedestrians and have drawn up 140 reports.
People face fines of up to €200 for failing to comply with the confinement measures.
 
 

New Covid-19 drug being tested

by: Stephanie Horsman
14/04/2020

A €17 million study of the drug ivermectin is being conducted in Montpellier in the fight against the coronavirus.
Doctors in France are supporting the testing of the anti-malarial drug ivermectin as a more effective alternative to chloroquine, the controversial drug being touted as a miracle cure by provocative French professor Didier Raoult.
Melbourne’s Monash University Biomedicine Discovery Institute has been studying ivermectin in a controlled test tube environment, and the research says that after 48 hours, the drug lowered the viral load of the coronavirus from 5,000 units down to just one. This represents a 99.98% reduction.
Though the results are hugely encouraging, the lead doctor on the study, Dr Kylie Wagstaff, cautioned that the tests have only been carried out in vitro and will need further testing to ascertain the correct doses in human patients.
“Ivermectin is very widely used and seen as a safe drug. We need to figure out now whether the dosage you can use it at in humans will be effective – that’s the next step,” Dr Wagstaff said on the Monash University website. “In times when we’re having a global pandemic and there isn’t an approved treatment, if we had a compound that was already available around the world then that might help people sooner. Realistically it’s going to be a while before a vaccine is broadly available.”
Though it is not entirely clear how the drug works, it is likely, based on its behaviour against other viruses, that it stops the virus from “dampening down the host cells’ ability to clear it.”
Royal Melbourne Hospital’s Dr Leon Caly, a Senior Medical Scientist at the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) at the Doherty Institute where the experiments with live coronavirus were originally conducted, is the study’s first author.
“As the virologist who was part of the team who were first to isolate and share SARS-COV2 outside of China in January 2020, I am excited about the prospect of ivermectin being used as a potential drug against Covid-19,”  Dr Caly said.
Despite being early days and risks unknown, it has emerged that preliminary human trials are currently taking place in Maryland, USA and London. The group in Maryland disclosed that they were conducting the same trials on animals in early March, but were not ready to publish findings when the Australian report came out.