HEALTH CRISIS: The Head of State, Emmanuel Macron is due to chair, this Tuesday, a Defense Council which will take stock of the evolution of the coronavirus epidemic and the various health protocols
Controlling the epidemic without slowing down economic recovery: this is the challenge that Emmanuel Macron and his government will have to take up . The executive returns to school this Tuesday with a Defense Council on the coronavirus .
“Having to live with the virus” but without “putting the country at a standstill”: the Head of State has set the framework while the holidays end in an anxiety-provoking climate . And the first measure has already been announced: wearing a mask is compulsory in most large cities and will become so in companies, colleges and high schools from September 1st.
“Do things in the right order”
The Head of State will present, this Tuesday, a defense council which will take stock of the evolution of the epidemic and the various health protocols put in place in companies, schools, transport but also for sporting or cultural events. These measures will again be on the menu of the Council of Ministers on Wednesday before being explained and detailed to the French, probably by Prime Minister Jean Castex.
The objective of the Elysée and Matignon is to “give confidence and visibility” to the French in order to “answer their questions and their concerns”, explains a source close to the executive. To “do things in the right order”, the government has decided to postpone the presentation of the post-Covid recovery plan by one week, initially scheduled for Tuesday. This week, “we must ensure that we define and put in place all the necessary rules so that the start of the school year can take place under the best possible conditions. This readability is necessary for the recovery, ”explained the Minister of Health Olivier Véran in the JDD.
Avoid putting the country “at a standstill”
The executive intends to maintain the strategy put in place on the occasion of the deconfinement of May 11, namely to trust local actors – mayors and prefects in particular – to take measures on a case-by-case basis and avoid any new confinement at the national level. . He gives the example of Mayenne, which had taken actions to impose the mask, screen and isolate when an abnormal increase in the circulation of Covid-19 had been observed in early July.
“We don’t forbid ourselves anything. What we want to avoid is to be overwhelmed (…) But we cannot bring the country to a standstill, because the collateral damage of confinement is considerable, ”explained Emmanuel Macron in a commentary. interview published Thursday by Paris Match . For him, the key lies in raising the awareness of all French people, who are “the co-actors of this crisis”. “We live in a magnificent Republic (…) It gives many more rights than in so many other countries. But before the rights, there are duties, ”he warned last week.
A test return for Jean Castex
This comeback, which is unlike any other, represents a real test for Jean Castex who, since entering Matignon on July 3, has increased the number of trips to the field. But without reaping the benefits since its popularity has fallen sharply, from 55% in July to 48% of favourable opinions, according to an Ifop poll for the Journal du Dimanche .
In the past two months, the opposition has, however, been discreet in its criticism of the government’s health strategy, with the exception of protests at the decision not to grant free masks.
