"Finally ..." On the phone, Marie-Paule Kieny, former Assistant Director-General of WHO and renowned virologist, pushes a sigh of relief. It is 8:15 pm this Saturday evening and, on the eve of the first round of municipal elections, the Prime Minister has just announced a strengthening of containment measures in France. Cafes, bars, restaurants, nightclubs, cinemas ... everything "which is not essential" closes from midnight. "I say it seriously: we must all show more discipline in the application of these measures," insists even Edouard Philippe.
Unpublished, never seen before… stage 3 of the coronavirus epidemic is on. " He had to. Just closing schools was not enough. Without these announcements, the same scenario as in Italy was inevitable, ”repeats the doctor. The figures prove him right. Eyes shrunk, serious air, it was Jérôme Salomon, n ° 2 of the Ministry of Health who announced them, just after Edouard Philippe spoke. 4,500 Covid-19 patients are now listed in France - a number that has doubled in seventy-two hours.
But what worries the experts the most is the significant proportion of its severe forms, which attack the pulmonary system. Apart from the 91 deaths, more than 300 people are in intensive care, half of whom are under sixty. The hospital system, where the “maximum white plan” is triggered, will have to face up to it. Already, all non-emergency operations are postponed. Patients without or with mild symptoms are expected to stay "locked up for a week" at home, with spouse and children. Those who breathe badly, can (and must) obviously continue to call Center 15.
This famous dreaded Italian scenario
But when did this new device, not envisaged the day before, take shape? The idea of strengthening the prevention system was considered at midday at the highest summit in the state. At the end of the morning, Emmanuel Macron and Édouard Philippe were effectively alerted that the virus continued to spread quickly, and everywhere in the territory, despite the measures already taken. And then, we can see it: people continue to go out, frequent cafes and restaurants, despite the recommendations.
From Le Havre, where he must vote on Sunday for the municipal elections, Édouard Philippe decides to return to Paris urgently. A scientific monitoring council is then convened by videoconference for the very beginning of the afternoon "in order to take stock of the situation and think about new measures", it is said. Should the first round of the elections be postponed? The question is again put to the experts. But like last Thursday, they return the same answer: no prohibition, from the moment when voters apply the recommendations to the letter, like those to come with a pen, to respect the meter difference with others, etc. .
Then the subject of more drastic measures concerning the gathering of people is also the subject of a long moment of discussion, like that of the general confinement of the population. This famous Italian scenario that everyone dreads now. Opinions dither. Some push to wait no longer. "Anyway, we will come there in the coming days. We are no longer at all hypothetical, ”assures a participant. De facto posing doubt about the holding of the second round next Sunday.
"The inexorable pandemic, the inevitable containment"
The conclusions of the scientific council finally arrive around 4 p.m. on the desk of Emmanuel Macron and Edouard Philippe, who will have spent all their day with the phone screwed in their ears, in particular with the Minister of Health Olivier Véran and the President of the National Assembly Richard Ferrand. Decision was taken to close "places receiving the public not essential to the life of the country", teleworking even more encouraged to minimize the spread of the virus.
Does it also concern members of the government? "No, they are considered to be essential personnel for the life of the Nation, so they remain in command of their administrations", assures a relative of the Head of State. The Council of Ministers will therefore take place as every week, Wednesday, without Brune Poirson, tested positive. On the other hand, more in the Ambassadors' lounge, as is customary, but in the Murat lounge, which has a table wider by the meter between each member of the government seated.
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"Just as the pandemic is inexorable, containment is inevitable," confided to us earlier in the day the specialist in crisis management, Alain Bauer. But inevitably another question arises: why not have taken these measures before, as demanded for several days by infectiologists and resuscitators whose services were filling up with new, and sometimes young, patients? Why not have heard the call of the Italians who urged us this week not to be half-hearted and not to make "the same mistakes" as them?
"No one knows what will happen in the second round"
“The one and only element that disrupted the process of collective confinement in France is the holding of municipal elections. Emmanuel Macron had the courage to try to suspend them, but the political class was unanimous in refusing him this option ", according to Alain Bauer. "You have to leave your home only to do essential shopping, do some exercise or to vote," summarized Edouard Philippe.
Yet the controversy swells. Several regional presidents, such as Carole Delga (Occitanie) or Gilles Simeoni (Corsica) demanded that the first round be postponed on Saturday evening. "I find it odd that the Prime Minister announced all of this as early as Saturday evening. It blurs the message that saying: going to vote is no worse than going to buy your bread at the bakery, "adds Philippe Laurent, mayor of Sceaux and secretary general of the association of mayors of France (AMF). François Bayrou himself would have, according to our colleagues from RTL, demanded the cancellation. A tribune of fifteen doctors, emergency doctors, resuscitators published Saturday evening on Atlantico.fr implored Emmanuel Macron to postpone the poll.
Transport will continue to operate, but "travel must be reduced," urges the Prime Minister.
A configuration which some senior officials already think could evolve next week with a shutdown of certain stations or airports. And for act two of the municipal elections next Sunday? "Nobody today is able to know what will happen for the second round," says a close friend of the President of the Republic. According to our information, Emmanuel Macron remained at Le Touquet, where he is to vote this Sunday.
"Be careful, confinement is a measure but it is not a panacea," warns professor of infectiology François Bricaire. There are measures that can have a deleterious effect on social and economic life. I'm not talking about the CAC 40, I don't care but what about people whose boxes are going to sink, what about depressive syndromes? It is difficult to put 100% of a country to a halt when 98% of the sick recover, "continues the doctor, who tries not to sink into catastrophism. But Jérôme Salomon decided yesterday: The virus does not circulate. It is the men and women who make it spread. "We must shield the nation. "