No paranoia this Wednesday noon around the huge table of the Council of Ministers. In the Elysée Ambassador's lounge, no one took a measuring tape to verify that the chairs were properly installed within a meter of each other, nor did they ostensibly take out their bottle of hydroalcoholic gel.
But the tension was palpable after two defense councils convened on the crisis in Syria and the coronavirus. In the viewfinder of the president, dissatisfied: the "fake news" and other rumors, which swarm faster than an epidemic.
"We are not in a situation in which we are going to have to stop the country !," Emmanuel Macron prevailed. There is reason to keep, 80% of people who are infected do not get sick ”. Thus he dismissed any postponement of the municipal elections. "He has clearly closed the door to all delusions," reports a minister. Like Edouard Philippe, he was also very annoyed with the right of withdrawal exercised by agents of the Louvre. "Not justified," storms a minister.
"We must not be agitated in all directions"
Preventing the crisis, not over-reacting: this is the line at the top of the state, where vigilance instructions have been issued. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Anne Clerc, asked members of the government and their teams to comply with a few "common sense practices": during meetings, make sure to keep a meter away; hang handwashing reminders on walls; mark the way for visitors to the sinks and gel displays; clean the offices two to three times a day. "And open the windows during the meetings!" “Laughs a counselor.
In Matignon, we are working on a passage to stage 3 of the health crisis. The meetings would then be held by videoconference. Above all, the services of Edouard Philippe envisage a so-called “degraded” mode where the agents of Matignon (reception, switchboard, transport) would ensure a shift by half every other week to avoid contamination and guarantee a minimum service.
At the Elysée Palace, the director of cabinet Patrick Strzoda is preparing a "business continuity program" to ensure the functioning of state services. Macron has already asked administration officials to balance their efforts towards a crisis that he says could last "weeks, and probably months". "We must not be agitated in all directions," he told them. The chefs should not run out but remain vigilant, focused. The risk, like in a marathon, is to start too fast, too strong ”.
Edouard Philippe adopts the salute "Queen of England"
In his entourage, we roll our eyes at the "fantasies" of a hypothetical transfer of power to a military base in Vincennes, in the event of brutal aggravation. "This applies to the 100 year flood, not to the coronavirus! ", Showered a loved one, a bit weary of questions about the barrier gestures put in place by the Head of State who, like his wife Brigitte, no longer shakes hands. "Do you want to know if he uses Tahiti shower?" "It doesn't change much for him." Since the presidential campaign, his security officers have been spreading his hands over hydroalcoholic gel, ”confesses a faithful.
In government, everyone has found their substitute gesture to avoid shaking hands. Edouard Philippe, like the president, opted for the salute "Queen of England". "He's someone who has easy fluff." He must have done violence to himself, ”breaths a loved one. By way of example, he had a gel dispenser installed at the foot of the grand staircase in Matignon. Muriel Pénicaud (Work), she adopted her hands joined to the Indian, called "namaste" in yoga.
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Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne (Foreign Affairs) puts his hand on the American heart. In the countryside at Tourcoing, Gérald Darmanin (Budget) evacuates the concern of "we don't shake hands, but the heart is there!" As for the Walkers Sibeth Ndiaye (spokesperson) and Jean-Baptiste Djebbari (Transport), they prefer an elbow "check". It doesn't always work. Invited Tuesday on France Inter, Marc Fesneau (Relations with the Parliament) did not resist: he did not dare to refuse the hand extended by Léa Salamé.
