The "hospital situation is serious", warned government spokesman Gabriel Attal on Thursday, leaving the Council of Ministers.
One of the government's priorities, "is to anticipate the arrival of the peak in intensive care, by continuing to equip more intensive care beds," said the Secretary of State, recalling that nearly 31,000 French people are hospitalized, including 5746 in intensive care.
"In accordance with the announcements of the President of the Republic, we have already gone to nearly 8,000 armed beds in intensive care and we will continue to gradually rise to above 10,000 whenever necessary," he added. he said, praising "the work of caregivers who are fighting day and night against the epidemic".
More broadly in the country, the health situation is "worrying" and even "extremely worrying" in "certain regions hitherto a little more spared", for example, in Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, where the number of patients admitted to critical care increased by 25% in one week.
"The incidence rate in our country remains very high" with "more than 400 cases per 100,000 inhabitants".
So "this is not the time to let go," he insisted.
The objective of May 15, "a course that mobilizes the government"
However, the restrictions taken to fight the Covid-19 epidemic "appear to be working," the government spokesman added.
"We are starting to measure that the additional efforts are bearing fruit" and "we have every reason to hope and believe that their impact will be sufficient to reverse the epidemic," said Gabriel Attal, who reported " first encouraging signals in the sixteen departments where additional braking measures were taken on March 20 ”.
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The objective formulated by Emmanuel Macron to start by reopening, on the horizon of May 15, "certain cultural places and certain terraces" is a "course which mobilizes the government today in the preparation of this deadline", assured Attal .
