FACING FEAR
► French ski resort tries to calm coronavirus panic
Not everyone will be attending the public information meeting at ContaminesMontjoie, the French Alpine ski resort grappling with a coronavirus outbreak.
"Gather people into a hall... I'm not sure that's the best idea," said Marie-Jeanne, who hires out ski equipment.
"It's all everyone is talking about," she said of the outbreak. "The ski school already had some cancellations."
News that five British nationals who stayed at the resort have been confirmed as infected could not have come at a worse time.
February 8 was the first day of the winter break for schools in some parts of France, including the Paris region, with the rest of France breaking in the coming weeks.
"We've had a lot calls since this morning," said Annick Roger, who runs the tourist office.
"There have already been some cancellations, people panicking a bit, wondering where the contaminated people could have gone. It's normal..."
Normally this time of year, the village of 1,200 people is invaded by thousands of tourists, visiting for the skiing at a resort that is part of the Mont Blanc chain, and just a few kilometers from the Italian border.
"Some tourists on the motorway are already turning around," said Pascale Haye, who runs a supermarket. "It's a shame that this should fall now."
There is no visible sign of the hurried hospitalization overnight on February 7 of 11 British nationals.
The alert was sounded after it was discovered that a man just returned from Singapore had passed on the virus to five people in his entourage, including a child, during their stay at the resort between January 24 and 28.
Another six members of the party were hospitalized as a precaution and were undergoing tests. The original carrier, meanwhile, was already back in Britain.
It was one of the clusters of the coronavirus outbreak that began in China and has since infected 34,500 and killed more than 1,000 people.
Some people in the Alpine village could hardly believe the news.
"I have to travel to China for work and I put off my trip," said vacationer Olivier Campion. And now, he said, the virus had come to join him on his ski holiday.
Masks in demand
At the village chemists, Eric Paris said that although he had a lot people asking for them, he was refusing to give out masks.
"That's 14 days now, the incubation period
has passed," he said. "If everybody is walking around with masks on, you imagine the hysteria?
"I checked with the regional health agencies, the town hall: There are no instructions. Everybody who should have been taken out of Contamines has been," he added.
"Just because you have a sore back after a day's skiing doesn't mean you have the coronavirus."
There are posters in the shops reminding people of the precautions to take, and a special number to call in case of need. And the village school, which the infected British child attended, will be closed next week for health checks.
At the Airelles restaurant, however, the staff are focused on looking after their customers. the we "The don't restaurant's poor want folk, they arrive from Paris and to owner, Delphine Wattablet. spook them with that," said
In the village square meanwhile, Welshman Alun Price is on the last day of his holiday. "I'm almost happy to be going home," he said.
"As if there weren’t enough problems with the English and Brexit!"
Catherine Marjou, on the other hand, has just unpacked her bags.
"We're a bit scared...," she said. "Still, we'll try not to think about it too much."
But Parisian tourist Laurent Geneslay was determined not to let it spoil his holiday.
He was even ready to wear a protection mask "if that means there are a few less people in the ski lifts!"