Here are the main information to remember from this first weekend of containment in France. But also the situation around the world in the last 48 hours:
Almost one billion humans on the planet are confined due to the coronavirus, that is to say approximately 12% of the world population. The Covid-19 has so far killed 13,600 people in 165 contaminated countries.
Read also: Coronavirus: where is the epidemic in the world?
In Italy, 5,476 deaths (including almost 1,400 in 48 hours, a record). The most affected country in the world, ahead of China, has decided on new measures of "social distancing" with the closure of all non-essential production activities.
Read also: Coronavirus: Italy takes new measures
In Spain, 1,720 deaths (including 394 in 24 hours, announced this Sunday, again a record). The second most affected country in Europe and third in the world (at least officially) will be confined until at least April 11, a two-week extension decided by the government.
Read also: Coronavirus: with more than 1,000 dead, Spain fears the worst
In France, 562 deaths (including 112 deaths in 24 hours, announced on Saturday). 6,172 people are hospitalized, including 1,525 serious cases in intensive care. France is the 5th most affected country in the world, behind Iran (1685 dead, but doubts exist on the figures provided by Tehran). " The wave is here (...) It is a war, it will last, " warned President Emmanuel Macron, quoted by the JDD .
Read also: Coronavirus: why the situation is already so serious
For the first time, in France, a hospital doctor died of Covid-19 , announced the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, without saying more "out of respect for medical confidentiality and for the family ". According to information from France 3 Hauts-de-France, confirmed by AFP, the victim is an emergency doctor from Compiègne, in Oise, one of the first departments to have been badly affected in France.
Read also: Coronavirus: in the East, resuscitation services are already on the verge of rupture
A website has been put on line to help French people worried about having been infected with the coronavirus to assess their symptoms and to be advised on the procedure to follow. Its address: maladiecoronavirus.fr.
Read also: Coronavirus: assessment, symptoms, treatments, restrictions ... All the answers to your questions about the Covid-19 epidemic
A third member of the government tested positive for coronavirus. It is Emmanuelle Wargon . The Secretary of State to the Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition mentions " mild symptoms ". In recent days, the Minister of Culture, Franck Riester, and the other Secretary of State for the Ecological Transition, Brune Poirson, have announced that they have been contaminated.
Read also: Coronavirus: the Élysée strengthens health protection around Macron
The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, raised the possibility of an extension of confinement : “ We are committed for a minimum period of two weeks, never for a maximum period. [...] If we find that a confinement of 4 weeks is more effective, we will do it ”. This Monday, the Scientific Council will issue an opinion on the duration of confinement in France.
Read also: Coronavirus: new sanctions for non-compliance with confinement
The National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) has started a " European clinical trial " on four experimental treatments, including the now famous "chloroquine", a treatment against malaria which is the subject of widespread medical debate. For this latter treatment, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, is awaiting " consolidated study results " within 15 days.
Read also: Coronavirus: with chloroquine, caution is advised
The National Assembly voted the article of the bill allowing the establishment of a “ state of health emergency ”, at the end of a bitter debate on the framing of this exceptional regime. It should be implemented as soon as the law is promulgated, for two months, and will make it possible to restrict certain public freedoms (confinement, requisitions, etc.).
Read also: Édouard Philippe details the “state of health emergency” system set up by the government
The European Commission announced on Saturday that it has approved three French public aid schemes intended to support the French economy in the face of the coronavirus epidemic. This set of measures should mobilize some 300 billion euros .
Read also: Coronavirus: the government details its business assistance plan
A company or branch agreement will ultimately be necessary to allow an employer to impose a week of paid leave on an employee during confinement due to the coronavirus crisis, voted the National Assembly on Saturday evening, on a government proposal .
Read also: Coronavirus: a company agreement will be necessary to impose a week of vacation
Olivier Véran, in his own words, engaged in an " exercise in absolute transparency " on the shortage of masks . The French authorities have ordered 250 million which will be delivered " gradually ". The current stock is 86 million, the domestic manufacturing capacity of 6 million per week, the needs of 24 million per week.
Read also: Coronavirus: Olivier Véran explains about masks to end the controversy
Olivier Véran also declared that France was preparing to " test more , without delay (...) After the lifting of the confinement, it will be necessary to test, test, test ... ". The challenge is to equip 120 laboratories with tests to detect the coronavirus as quickly as possible, compared to 50 today. France performs 5000 tests per day. It is " more than most other European countries ", according to the minister.
Read also: Coronavirus: three questions on screening tests in France
After several cities (Perpignan, Nice, Béziers, Roquebrune-sur-Argens, Charleville-Mézières, Cholet), it is now an entire department - the Alpes-Maritimes - which has decided to set up a curfew , from 10 p.m. at 5 a.m., this Sunday.
Read also: Coronavirus: several cities introduce a curfew
The Army continues to participate in the fight against the coronavirus: a helicopter carrier went to Corsica. He repatriates patients to Marseille to relieve Ajaccio hospital. The multi-mission ship has 12 beds equipped with means of resuscitation. In Mulhouse, a military field hospital will be operational at the beginning of next week: it will have 30 beds equipped with means of resuscitation. Finally, the Air Force also provides an A330 MRTT capable of transporting 6 patients in intensive care, there too to relieve hospitals at the heart of the crisis.
Read also: Coronavirus: the military field hospital in Mulhouse is being assembled
LR deputies want to create a parliamentary commission of inquiry in the fall to " learn all the lessons from the epidemic ", in the words of the group's leader, Damien Abad. The questions will focus on three areas of concern: the shortage of masks, the doctrine and screening tests, the number of beds available in the intensive care unit.
Read also: Coronavirus: Agnès Buzyn or another member of the government risk legal proceedings?
A growing number of sports players want the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics , scheduled for next July. This Sunday, the French Athletics Federation expressed this request, one day after its Spanish and American equivalents. Beyond athletics, the American and French swimming federations, as well as the Norwegian Olympic committee, also asked for such a postponement.
Read also: Coronavirus: why is the IOC keen to keep the Tokyo Olympics?