Prime Minister Édouard Philippe considered on Thursday that " there is no reason to be afraid or to be negligent ", faced with the risk of an epidemic in France of coronavirus, after a meeting in Matignon where he received all the party leaders.
" There is obviously a concern in France, " admitted the head of government, " we want to (respond) using the only method that works in the face of risk: mobilization, calm and reason. "
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Édouard Philippe considered that France was at the first stage of a gradation scale which has three. " We are doing everything to block, to deal very quickly with the isolated cases which are mainly cases from the affected areas in the world ", he developed, arguing that " this is what we have did a few weeks ago at Les Contamines Montjoie with success ”. " The second stage, we will be there if we see clusters of cases," clusters "appearing at several points in the national territory: this is what is happening today in certain areas of northern Italy ", a he added while stage 3 corresponds to the epidemic itself.
" Each stadium calls for different and appropriate responses ," insisted the head of government, warning against any rush, for now, to provide masks. " It is even rather inadvisable, it is this kind of behavior which risks creating the shortage, even when populations may, when the time comes, need it, " he said.
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" If heavier decisions for the daily life of our compatriots were to be taken, the government under the authority of the President of the Republic would obviously not have a shaking hand ," he added, recalling that " 108 hospitals are ready to receive sick people ”and that 200 million additional masks have been ordered.
Towards certain opposition leaders, including Marine Le Pen (RN), who unsuccessfully called for the borders to be closed, the Prime Minister observed that " many of the ideas that seem simple " are " in reality simplistic and ineffective ”. " I recalled this morning that on this subject, calm, measure, common sense, are virtues that we have an interest in cultivating collectively ", he added, encouraging the French to listen doctors, " not those who want to thrive on messages of concern ".