France, which entered Tuesday 7th April 2020 in its fourth week of confinement, is still far from the “peak” of the coronavirus epidemic.
France, which entered Tuesday 7th April 2020 in its fourth week of confinement to fight against the coronavirus, is still far from the “peak” of the epidemic which has already killed nearly 9,000 people.
Respecting this unprecedented confinement imposed on the whole national territory showing new signs of slackening, the government displayed its determination and undertook once again to tighten the bolts.
“The hour of confinement will last,” insisted Edouard Philippe during the session of questions to the government.
Edouard Philippe: “Le confinement va durer” pic.twitter.com/hfd9DhL5hP
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) April 7, 2020
“Getting ready doesn’t mean it’s ready”
“It is quite difficult for many French people to bear, I am perfectly aware of this, but it is essential if we do not want to find ourselves in a situation that would be worse than the one we know today” continued the head of government, whose announcement last week that the government was studying exit “scenarios” had cast doubt.
“Preparing does not mean that it is ready,” insisted the Prime Minister, ensuring that the questions on the deconfinement “are very largely premature”.
Especially since “we are not yet at the peak of the epidemic”, recalled for his part the Minister of Health Olivier Véran.
Pandémie de Covid-19 : La France n’est “pas encore au pic épidémique”, affirme Olivier Véran https://t.co/6ZmtYqbC0V pic.twitter.com/1ObI2AFmSX
— FRANCE 24 – Vidéos (@F24videos) April 7, 2020
“Terrific” work by caregivers
Emmanuel Macron travelling in Seine-Saint-Denis, he wanted to “thank” the inhabitants of this department, the poorest in France and one of the most affected by the epidemic, to “respect the confinement in a remarkable way”. He also praised the “wonderful” work of the caregivers.
Read also: Coronavirus. Emmanuel Macron visiting Seine-Saint-Denis this Tuesday
Because with the return of sunny days and the start of the Easter holidays (in zone C, Île-de-France and Occitanie), authorities and carers fear a relaxation, as many images of walkers have shown during the weekend in different points of the country.
the Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner thus asked the prefects “to examine on a case by case basis” and in connection with the mayors the “need to tighten the measures”.
Things did not drag in the capital, where the town hall of Paris and the prefect of police thus announced the prohibition of any individual sporting activity between 10H00 and 19H00, vis-a-vis the unusual number of “joggers” multiplying the exits.
Read also: Coronavirus and containment: sport largely prohibited on the streets of Paris
Pressure
The pressure on hospitals and nursing homes remains very strong for the time being. The Minister of Health has announced the launch of a vast screening operation in these nursing homes, some of which have been decimated by the disease.
According to the latest report, at least 2,417 deaths have been recorded since the start of the epidemic in nursing homes and other medico-social establishments.
For relatives, the absence of information is often a nightmare. “Healthcare team with four mobile numbers, it doesn’t answer.” Medical secretary, it doesn’t answer. Psychological cell, that does not answer, “thus alarmed AFP Clarisse Marquez, whose 85-year-old mother entered an Ehpad in Paris a few days before confinement.
No improvement
In total, since March 1, 8,911 people have died in France, including 6,494 in hospitals. With 605 dead, the 24 hours between Sunday and Monday have even seen the worst daily toll in hospitals.
The improvement noted on this plan on Sunday will therefore not have lasted, even if the net increase in the number of patients in intensive care – an indicator very followed by professionals because it measures the pressure on the health system – is less and less strong .
Pending a possible vaccine, a clinical trial consisting in transfusing blood plasma from recovered people to “patients in acute phase of the disease” is due to start on Tuesday. The process has already proven to be effective, in small-scale studies, against other infectious diseases like Ebola or SARS.
Other remedies continue to cause controversy. An entrepreneur from the Loire region, suspected of having offered chloroquine to his employees, was placed in police custody on Monday, then released.
Lust
Meanwhile France continues its efforts to stock masks, now coveted by the whole planet, and its “safe orders” now reach 1.6 billion copies, assured Mr. Véran. Widespread use of the mask remains an “open question” but the government maintains for the time being its recommendation to reserve the use for caregivers and infected people, he also said.
Air France has, however, suspended its cargo flights of medical equipment and masks with Shanghai following the tightening of sanitary controls in China.
And more than one in two nurses still find a lack of masks, according to one of their unions.
The Ile-de-France region, for its part, has announced the distribution of 300,000 masks for caregivers, businesses and humanitarian associations in Seine Saint-Denis. It is in this department, one of the most affected by the epidemic, that President Emmanuel Macron was to go Tuesday to meet health professionals and social support.
Wait before booking your summer vacation
The epidemic, which has killed more than 75,000 people in the world, continues to darken the economic outlook and the Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire warned Monday that France could cross its worst recession since the Second World War.
On Tuesday, around fifteen unions and associations, including the CGT, the FSU, Greenpeace and the Confédération paysanne, launched a petition to demand from the government short-term measures to respond to the crisis and long-term measures to “never again a such a situation happens again. “
In the meantime, the confined French are consuming historical lengths of TV programs and, according to a survey, more online cultural products, series, video games and films in particular.
And this is likely to last, according to the Secretary of State for Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari who advised them to “wait” before booking trips for the summer holidays, the situation linked to the epidemic being ” still too uncertain ”.
