The Head of State went to the Parisian hospital of La-Pitié-Salpêtrière, this Thursday 27th February 2020, and goes up to the front against the coronavirus.
“We have before us an epidemic that is coming” and we will have to “face it at best”. A picture of Emmanuel Macron, the executive is mounted to the front Thursday against the coronavirus, which is the second death in France.
Before leaving for a Franco-Italian summit in Naples, the Head of State went to the Parisian hospital of La-Pitié-Salpêtrière, accompanied by the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, to “thank” and salute the medical staff and the “quality of care provided by the French system”.
“On a devant nous une crise, une épidémie qui arrive […] et on va devoir l’affronter au mieux”, a souligné Emmanuel #Macron ce jeudi, lors de sa visite à l’hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, à #Paris
En savoir plus : https://t.co/fs9GbbCzBj#CoronavirusFrance 🇫🇷 #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/jEfppmGcab
— FRANCE 24 Français (@France24_fr) February 27, 2020
“We have before us a crisis, an epidemic that is coming … We will have to face it at best, with life going on. We know that we are only at the beginning, ”said Emmanuel Macron during an exchange with the doctors, including Professor Eric Caumes, head of the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Department.
18 cases
He explained to the head of state that “there will be a bit of an Italian situation” with “indigenous transmission channels” while insisting that “the two people who died in France had either co-morbidity or another pathology ”.
Less affected for the moment than neighbouring Italy, France has listed 18 cases and two deaths, including a Chinese tourist and this first French death who had not travelled to risk areas. An investigation is underway to trace the course of this 60-year-old teacher from a college in Crépy-en-Valois in the Oise department.
Coronavirus: Emmanuel Macron rencontre les personnels soignants de la Pitié-Salpêtrière pic.twitter.com/CLfZHcXhex
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) February 27, 2020
“Calm” and “reason”
“The epidemic is likely” but “there is no reason to be afraid or to be negligent”, underlined Edouard Philippe after having received in Matignon the party leaders represented in the Parliament, the presidents of parliamentary groups and the presidents of assemblies.
#Coronavirus Beaucoup de rumeurs circulent. Il nous appartient ensemble, Gouvernement, élus, médias, experts de santé publique, d’accompagner nos concitoyens pour assurer leur information et leur protection, sans jamais jouer sur les peurs.
➡️ https://t.co/7Bq3WUVuGm pic.twitter.com/sc5U4z1hDs
— Edouard Philippe (@EPhilippePM) February 27, 2020
The Prime Minister called for “mobilization”, “calm” and “reason”, promising “total transparency” to the French, in the face of “many rumors circulating”.
Olivier Véran will hold his daily press point Thursday at 7:00 p.m. He will meet Friday, with the Minister of Labour Muriel Pénicaud, the trade unions and employers ‘to take stock’ of the coronavirus and the ‘measures to be taken in companies’.
Economic impact
In Paris, the weekly meetings of the municipal watch unit, created in January, become daily as of this Thursday, to ensure “operational coordination of services under the responsibility of the mayor” Anne Hidalgo.
SNCF, for its part, has strengthened its system in the face of the spread of the coronavirus, providing masks to its flight attendants on routes to northern Italy or in correspondence, and suspending professional travel to a certain number of countries and regions at risk.
Fears linked to the coronavirus are spilling over into several sectors, including tourism: French holidaymakers’ reservations for several Asian countries, mainly Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia in addition to China, have collapsed. Tourists are beginning to wonder about Italy, according to tour operators.
Postponement of municipal elections?
In Beauvais, the mayor, Caroline Cayeux, wanted a health brigade to be set up for flights from Italy to the local airport.
According to a statement by AFP, the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on large French companies is already close to one billion euros in losses.
Could the municipal elections of March 15 and 22 be postponed? The government is not “considering it” at the moment, said Ndiaye, and the assumption was not made in “none of the ministerial meetings” she attended, she said.
12 patients cured
The Minister of Health Olivier Véran announced on Wednesday evening an 18th positive case: the wife of a hospitalized patient in Annecy, a 64-year-old Frenchman, back from Lombardy. The state of health of these two people does not cause concern.
One of the other cases announced on Wednesday is “a 55-year-old French man currently hospitalized in Amiens and who is in a serious clinical situation (…) in intensive care”, as well as “a 36-year-old French man hospitalized in Strasbourg”, who “shows no sign of seriousness” and returned from Lombardy, the Italian region most affected by the disease.
