The confinement imposed in France in an attempt to stem the galloping epidemic of coronavirus, still largely transgressed, should "very probably" be prolonged beyond the two initial weeks in the opinion of the health authorities.
The French seem to have a hard time realizing reality. On a visit to the Institut Pasteur in Paris on Thursday, Emmanuel Macron regretted that they take the instructions “lightly” and continue to hang out, enjoying the good weather.
"The more we are mobilized, the faster we will break the epidemic curve, it is a collective fight" again insisted Thursday evening Professor Salomon, Director General of Health (DGS), announcing 372 deaths recorded since the beginning of l epidemic (108 additional in 24 hours) and 4,761 hospitalizations.
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President Macron will chair a new Defense Council Friday morning at the Interior Ministry to take stock, four days after the implementation of containment measures in France. He deplored Thursday that "too many" French people take them "lightly" .
On Thursday, the National Assembly unanimously voted the amending finance bill intended to deal with the consequences of the epidemic. The project must be submitted to the Senate on Friday.
Since Wednesday evening, 91 heavy cases have joined the intensive care unit, bringing their total to 1,122. "The cases of contamination double every four days" : "the epidemic is large and spreading, with rapid and intense viral circulation , " warned the DGS.
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In a statement to the head of state, the Intersyndicale nationale des internees (Isni) called on the authorities to "stop half-measures and equivocal speeches" and called for "total and absolute containment of the entire population " "The less the confinement will be strictly applied, the more the resuscitation will be saturated, the more we will have to make choices" , they warn.
For the director general of the health agency Public Health France, Geneviève Chêne, the extension of the confinement, decreed for an initial duration of 15 days, "will very probably be necessary" : it will be necessary to wait "between two and four weeks" to observe effects on the dynamics of the epidemic.
The prefects raised their voices on Thursday and closed the beaches of the entire Mediterranean arc, Corsica and many departments of the Atlantic coast.