"The hour is serious in the country, it requires to take additional measures".
Gabriel Attal, government spokesman, had again worked this Thursday morning to justify new restrictions to fight against the spread of the coronavirus.
Over the past two weeks, the daily reports have shown a sharp deterioration in the health situation in France, while the occupancy of intensive care beds is still causing more concern.
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Charge returned this Thursday afternoon to Prime Minister Jean Castex to announce the new restrictive measures.
" The situation is serious.
It is serious in Europe, it is serious in France, ”he explained straight away at a press conference, regretting a doubling of the number of cases in fifteen days.
He was accompanied for the occasion by Olivier Véran, Minister of Health, Cédric O, Secretary of State in charge of Digital, and Roselyne Bachelot, Minister of Culture.
54 departments under curfew
On Wednesday, October 14, the government had taken a new step by imposing a curfew in Île-de-France and in eight metropolises.
The measure, implemented since Saturday, then concerned the Paris region but also Grenoble, Lyon, Aix-Marseille, Montpellier, Lille, Saint-Etienne, Rouen and Toulouse.
The government decided to tighten the screw even more strongly because of the "progression of the epidemic".
There is no longer any question of metropolises.
54 departments and one overseas territory are now affected by the application of the curfew.
In detail, are the eight departments of Île-de-France, the eight where the eight metropolises already under curfew are located, as well as 38 new departments.
This represents 46 million French people, or nearly 7 out of 10 inhabitants.
On all of these territories, this night reconfinement will apply at 9 p.m. in the new departments from midnight from Friday to Saturday.
This device could be hardened next week.
VIDEO. 38 additional departments under curfew
In addition, since Saturday, the police have carried out 32,033 checks and issued 4,777 fines in the territories already concerned.
Véran's warning
“The spread of the virus is slower because we are equipped and we apply barrier gestures.
The virus circulates less quickly but its spread is still increasing and in alarming proportions, ”alerted Olivier Véran.
"Without new measure where it is necessary to curb the epidemic, there would be more than 50,000 patients diagnosed every day", continued the Minister of Health, saying he hoped for "a thrill" of a drop in the rate of impact early next week.
In recent days, we are running around 25,000 new cases on average per day.
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His concerns are mainly focused on vulnerable people, who are most at risk of severe forms of Covid-19 and therefore of being admitted to intensive care.
Across the whole of France, the occupancy rate of Covid patients in intensive care is 44%.
Nevertheless, "50% of patients in intensive care are under 50 years old," added Professor Étienne Gayat, crisis director at Lariboisière hospital (Paris).
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Regarding screening, "we went from 1.1 million tests to 1.6 million" tests per week in two weeks, said Olivier Véran.
The average time to result is 48 hours.
The Minister of Health concluded his speech with a tribute to caregivers.
“When we talk about the health system, we are talking about the women and men mobilized on a daily basis.
When I say that we have to take care of them, it is up to each of us not to expose ourselves, ”he said.
Ventilate, new recommendation
As Emmanuel Macron had developed at length last Wednesday, several health recommendations must be followed as much as possible.
This is particularly the case with the "rule of six", ie not to meet with more than six people for private events (dinner with friends, birthday party, etc.).
During this school vacation period, you must also be particularly vigilant when moving, otherwise you risk "bringing" the virus with you.
"The key to the fight against the virus is in our hands," insisted the Prime Minister, listing the various recommendations: wash your hands regularly, wear a mask, cough into your elbow, etc.
Jean Castex also mentioned the need to “ventilate the places in which we work”, which had not always been done until then.
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However, several epidemiologists now consider that the transmission of the virus by aerosol could well be the main route of contamination.
In this case, ventilation of the rooms becomes imperative.
All AntiCovid operational
StopCovid "is not a failure, but it did not work".
Emmanuel Macron's formula had elicited some amused reactions.
But regardless of the words chosen, the contact tracing application launched last June has all the fiasco, with 2.6 million downloads for some 800 people alerted.
The government has therefore revised its copy and is launching a “V2” on Thursday.
With a new name, TousAntiCovid, and enriched content to encourage downloads.
It includes, for example, information on the restriction measures in force at the local level as well as information on screening locations and waiting times.
"It is available for download as of today", introduced Jean Castex.
Speaking at the same time and regretting "a missed opportunity", Cédric O praised a digital tool allowing "to share precious information for all".
"If we are enough to download this application, this tool can be extremely useful", he insisted, evoking the need to reach ten or even fifteen million users, as in our German and British neighbors, for example.
“We need you, we need everyone, we need everyone,” he urged.
Reinforced aid for businesses
The support measures announced last week, including the strengthening of the solidarity fund, "will be extended to all departments falling into curfew", guaranteed Jean Castex.
The Prime Minister, who says he is fully aware that "the curfew will have serious economic repercussions" particularly wishes "to encourage mediation, move forward on the issue of holidays, propose a new insurance scheme".
Leaving the various sectors of activity down "would have a much heavier human and financial cost".
Ads for the world of culture
The announcement of a first curfew in eight of the largest French metropolises last week had triggered a deep stir in the culture sector.
And for good reason: "most of the live performance and cinema take place in the evening," said Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot on Thursday.
This one had itself asked in our columns of the relaxations, so that the places of cinema or spectacles can serve as derogations and justify a displacement after 9 pm.
Jean Castex insisted on his wish to "maintain access to culture, essential in this period of crisis".
For this, several measures will be strengthened, totaling 115 million euros.
The world of culture will be eligible in particular for exemptions from charges and to the solidarity fund, indicated Roselyne Bachelot, who wishes to limit as much as possible the deprogramming of theater, opera or cinema sessions.
The Minister also wishes to extend the exemption from the tax on shows in the first half of 2021. Concerning cinemas, 30 million euros of aid are planned in total, including in particular the support by the State of an additional price on each ticket, then donated to distributors.
