Already announced by the Elysee, confinement will continue past Tuesday 14th April 2020. The authorities will keep an eye on things this Easter weekend.
After more than 12,000 coronavirus deaths in France, confinement surveillance will remain strict during the Easter weekend at the end of which Emmanuel Macron will detail the consequences to be reserved for this confinement which forces the French to stay at home.
Started on March 17th and already extended once, the confinement will continue after next Tuesday, has already warned the Elysee. Until when? The head of state could address the issue in his speech scheduled for Monday evening, his fourth since March 12th.
Prohibited sports activities
Emmanuel Macron will take over from Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, who has been responsible for the main announcements for the past two weeks.
After having advanced to evoke the preparation for the deconfinement last week, Édouard Philippe returned to the present to prepare the French for a long crisis. As the day before the Assembly, he stressed Wednesday before the Senate that the confinement was called “obviously to last some time yet”.
On the eve of the weekend of Easter and in vacation early for some, the authorities fear a slackening while the balance now exceeds the 12 000 deaths in the country, although the number of admissions to ICUs brakes heavily.
In France as throughout the world, Christians must remain confined, deprived of masses and meetings for this highlight of their spiritual and family life.
After Paris and five other Ile-de-France departments, it is in Alsace, a region very affected by the virus, that any individual sporting activity will be prohibited during the day from the weekend. A similar measure was also taken in Saint-Etienne.
No getaway
And there is no question of offering a getaway on the Blue Coast or in the Alpilles: in Bouches-du-Rhône, where the holidays also start this weekend, containment controls will be reinforced on the coast, on the motorway and in the massifs.
In Ardèche, group outings are prohibited.
As part of his consultations on the coronavirus, Emmanuel Macron will meet on Friday 10th April 2020 at 9:00 am by video or audio conference with the European leaders of his political family, then at 11:00 am with the social partners.
With the European leaders, he will discuss “on the concrete measures to fight against the epidemic as well as on the economic and social measures which will be necessary to revive the economy”, indicated the Elysée.
A European agreement found
This meeting will take place a few hours after the agreement reached between the European finance ministers on a common economic response to the repercussions of the crisis. The Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire welcomed a recovery plan including “500 billion euros available immediately”.
Excellent accord entre ministres des Finances européens sur la réponse économique au #Coronavirus : 500 milliards d’euros disponibles immédiatement. Un fonds de relance à venir. L’Europe décide et se montre à la hauteur de la gravité de la crise.
— Bruno Le Maire (@BrunoLeMaire) April 9, 2020
Then Emmanuel Macron, surrounded by the Prime Minister and a few ministers (Labor, Health, Economy, Pensions…), will bring together the social partners (unions and employers) by audio conference, for the second time in 15 days.
The objective of this meeting is to “take stock of the health situation”, to “ensure that the economic and social measures to support containment are effectively deployed” and to “prepare for the release of containment when the health situation will allow ”, according to the Elysée.
Read also: Masses cancelled, holidays at home… towards an Easter weekend under confinement
Controversies
For his part, Edouard Philippe, must hold a Friday afternoon meeting with the presidents of parliamentary groups, and another over the weekend with party leaders, we learned on Thursday from Matignon.
In addition to the question of confinement, Emmanuel Macron is also expected on Monday on the controversies that have continued to grow, in particular on the need or not for the widespread use of the mask.
“In the context of containment, you have to make sure that people get out as little as possible. So the question of masks for the general population does not arise immediately “, but only” in the context of the strategy of deconfinement “, according to government spokesperson Sibeth Ndiaye.
Also as part of his consultations, Emmanuel Macron visited Thursday the controversial Marseille professor Didier Raoult, herald of the treatment with hydroxychloroquine against Coronavirus Covid-19.
The infectious disease specialist presented him with the latest study from his services, which he says confirms the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine (a derivative of chloroquine, a drug against malaria) as soon as the first symptoms of the coronavirus appear. Results of which a certain number of doctors and scientists question the scope.
But the Elysée insisted on the fact that this meeting did not represent “recognition” of the teacher’s method.
