Some indicators are not misleading. Like the many calls from elderly people to the standards of the Elysée and Matignon. Same incessant ringing to the League against cancer, after the declarations of Jean-François Delfraissy on the most "from 65 to 70 years". The president of the Scientific Council nuances and demines, certifying this Saturday April 18 on France 2 that he had not spoken of an exit ban for this public more exposed to serious forms of Covid-19. The fact remains that his comments on deconfinement after May 11, before the Senate on Wednesday, sowed doubt. Emmanuel Macron himself had remained "fairly sibylline", says a minister, in his solemn address on April 13. Result, testifies Axel Kahn, president of the League against cancer, "it was a flood of despair, elderly people who did not understand, showed signs of depression ..."
Behind the scenes, there was debate. “Scientists are, in essence, in a more coercive approach. But they are not jurists, even less politicians, ”points out a follower of the President of the Republic. In other words: it is the politicians who decide. Friday, April 17 in the evening, the Elysée Palace said that the Head of State did not want "discrimination" and would appeal to "individual responsibility".
Faced with the controversy that was swelling, it was necessary, justifies a minister, to "speed up precision" without delay. In any case, do not wait to clear the press conference that the Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, is to hold this Sunday, April 19 with Minister of Health Olivier Véran. Objective, decrypts those around him: to "take stock" of the health situation, but also to evoke deconfinement, by "opening the government notebook to show the options, the questions that arise to succeed on May 11". There was also no question of waiting for a meeting, at the beginning of the week, around Emmanuel Macron, on the question of the most vulnerable, these 18 million people at risk.
"A social demand has been expressed"
“The president has matured his thinking. He has a lot of sensors in French society and many voices have been raised. There, these were no longer weak signals, but worries. A social demand has been expressed about the fate of our elders, ”said one at the Elysée.
These voices are those of anonymous, elected officials or personalities, like Axel Kahn. For the famous geneticist, the emotion of this population was likely to explode the pressure cooker. "To be heard You are forbidden to go out, as to children, psychologically, it is untenable, abounds a minister. You give someone the only horizon to stay at home. And in addition, you tell him that he is old. "
And then, says Axel Kahn, "we were in the midst of illegality". In fact, several executives of the executive confide not knowing how it could be “legally possible” to prevent a category of the population from leaving. The ground was at least slippery ... "We cannot ask someone and not others for an authorization to go out on the street," says a close friend of Edouard Philippe. But that goes with a principle of responsibility for the most vulnerable, especially the old ones: you have to protect yourself. "
The role of the attending physician will be central
There remains this crucial question: how? “Public authorities will have a heavy responsibility in terms of advice and information. This also applies to retirement homes: masks are going to be necessary to bring families back, ”said judge Axel Kahn. And, insists Pierre-Louis Druais, general practitioner, and member of the scientific council: "screen, screen, screen" in an Ehpad (establishment for dependent elderly people). For this professor, no doubt, the role of the attending physician will be central. “The elderly must call us now, we are there for them. Some are in great mental or physical suffering and do not dare to contact us. "
Perhaps because telemedicine, highlighted in the management of this crisis, can seem to them a mountain. “Sometimes a good old phone call to your doctor is more effective than a McDonald's consultation with a screen. Let us have that in mind for the post-May 11th period, in order to maintain the link with the oldest. "
