Government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye said Friday, March 20, that it was " fairly likely " that the fifteen-day containment period established in France to curb the spread of the coronavirus would be extended.
Read also: Olivier Véran: "The confinement will last as long as it takes"
"It is quite likely that we will be forced to extend the containment, " said the government spokesperson on BFMTV and RMC. But the establishment of a curfew is " not yet envisaged, " she said.
" We have an incubation period of the virus which is a maximum of 14 days and we know that it is from there, when we look at what has happened in other countries, that we started to slow the number of new cases. So you really have to break this chain of transmission. This is the reason why we will undoubtedly have to examine an extension of confinement, ”justified the government spokesperson.
Defense Council
Emmanuel Macron is to chair a new Defense Council at the Interior Ministry from 11 a.m. on Friday to take stock of the implementation of containment measures.
On March 16, the head of state announced in a television address a severe restriction on movement of the population for at least 15 days throughout the country, justified by the " war " launched by the country against the coronavirus pandemic. He deplored Thursday that " too many " French take " lightly " the confinement instructions, which " are not fully respected ".
" It is important that there is an awareness," said Ms. Ndiaye on Friday. The trigger was made by a large majority of our fellow citizens, but we still see irresponsible behavior. I say to everyone: the more we respect the rule of confinement, the less we will stay there for a long time. "
The president of RN Marine Le Pen called Thursday for the establishment of a " curfew from 8 pm " to enforce containment. The deputy LR of the Alpes-Maritimes Eric Ciotti also asked the government to be " more coercive, without excluding going to the next stage: a curfew ".