France: The city of Lyon bans all demonstrations on Saturday

The authorities decided to ban all demonstrations in Lyon, the third largest city in France, on Saturday, ahead of street movements scheduled nationwide on the aforementioned day, following protests that took place last weekend and turned into widespread violence, according to Agence France-Presse.

The Prefecture of the Rhône region said in a statement distributed to the media on Thursday: “In view of the events that occurred on October 17, the prefect decided by decree to ban all protests in the city of Lyon on Saturday.”

Lyon, like Paris and other French cities, witnessed clashes and looting, after masked young men descended on the city center on the sidelines of massive demonstrations to protest the high cost of living.

Mayor Gregory Doucet said that the city experienced hours of “chaos” during the riots, as between 150 and 200 stores were looted, in addition to a tourism office being set on fire. The police arrested about 200 people.

The organizers of the demonstrations, from the “yellow vest” movement and a number of unions, called for a new day of nationwide protests on Saturday, and a general strike and other demonstrations on November 5.

After failing to contain the violence that occurred last weekend, French officials issued a decision to impose a three-night curfew in parts of Paris, Lyon and other cities with the aim of protecting commercial areas.

The French authorities announced today (Thursday) that the first human infection with the “Chamunda” virus, which is transmitted by small biting insects and was spread only to livestock, had been detected in a patient suffering from severe immunodeficiency who died in early October, according to Agence France-Presse.

The Ministries of Health and Agriculture indicated, in a joint statement, that “the Chamunda virus has been spreading in Africa and Asia for decades, without any human infection with it having been documented so far, which makes this an exceptional case for a patient suffering from severe immunodeficiency,” who was hospitalized in Lyon to receive treatment for a serious illness “and died in early October.”

The statement explained that the hypothesis at this stage is that “he was infected with the virus through the bite of a colicoid fly in eastern France, an area where the virus spreads among animals during the spring and summer.”

Based on the investigations conducted, “it is very likely that the cerebral complications that were observed in the patient before his death were related to the Chamunda virus,” according to the statement.

He added: “Based on the available data regarding this virus, there are no specific health risks threatening the French so far.”

The statement continued: “Clinical, biological and epidemiological investigations are still ongoing,” noting that the World Health Organization and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control have been informed of this human infection.