"If this crossing of the thresholds, which has only been observed for 24 hours at this stage, is confirmed in the coming days, we will have no other choice but to place Paris and the inner suburbs in the maximum alert zone from Monday.
What do the latest figures say about the health situation in the capital after the statements of the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, during his press conference on Thursday evening?
While the decision to pass this area in scarlet - or not - must be taken this Sunday, the latest data from Public Health France show a very, very slight improvement on the front of people currently in intensive care.
This figure was 103 this Saturday evening, against 106 Friday and 109 Thursday, a record since deconfinement.
However, not enough to reduce significantly the share of Covid patients in these intensive care units that the minister had established at 35% Thursday.
What about the incidence rate, one of the three indicators closely scrutinized by the authorities?
Data released on Saturday (and going back to September 30) showed a rate of 258.4% per 100,000 inhabitants.
It is still well above the maximum alert threshold set at 250 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, but the decline has been lasting for several days after peaking at more than 271 the week of September 19 to 25.
For its part, the positivity rate on a sliding week continues to deteriorate: 12.3 against 12.1 the day before.
By comparison, it is at the national level of 7.9% (a record) and 9% in the Bouches-du-Rhône, where the number of hospitalized Covid patients continues to increase slightly, including in intensive care.
On the contrary, the incidence rate fell back to 180, confirming a drop started last week in this department in the south of France.
VIDEO. Paris will know on Sunday if it goes into "maximum alert zone"
For lack of improvement, Paris and its inner suburbs could not escape the passage in the scarlet zone, supposing "that the inhabitants temporarily reduce their social interactions in a drastic way: no more family celebrations or evenings and total closure of the bars", had quoted Olivier Véran.
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In addition, at the national level, never had so many confirmed cases been recorded in 24 hours.
This Saturday, Public Health France counted 16,972 new cases of Covid-19.
A record.