Occupy the land, everywhere, all the time. This has been the leitmotif of the executive since the start of the coronavirus crisis. Thus, Emmanuel Macron and Édouard Philippe have meticulously divided the roles: the President of the Republic reassures and supports the French; the Prime Minister informs them. It is in this logic that the head of government accepted the invitation of TF1 / LCI, where he engaged in a long exercise of pedagogy live this Thursday evening. The opportunity to answer all questions and all criticisms.
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● "The virus is not on vacation", therefore "there must be no departure" from the French
On the eve of the Easter holidays, Édouard Philippe appealed to the “ sense of good citizenship ”, to a “ form of discipline ” and to a “ form of collective effort ” by the French. Clearly, he called on them to continue to respect " very strictly and very rigorously the confinement instructions ". " The virus is not on vacation, " said the Prime Minister, who said that " there should be no departure in the coming days ". " None ", he insisted, otherwise it " would ruin the collective effort to which we have been consenting for almost three weeks ".
Read also: On the eve of the holidays, the containment riders expected at the turn
● Containment will “probably” be extended beyond April 15
While the Scientific Council recommended, in a recent report, to fix the duration of confinement at six weeks minimum, Edouard Philippe recalled that France had decided to establish it " at least until April 15 ". According to the Prime Minister, it is indeed this " logic " that " must prevail " today, despite the " impatience ". This is why the confinement will last “ perhaps longer (than a month), if the health regulations require it ”. " When I say 'maybe longer', it means 'probably', " he conceded.
Read also: Édouard Philippe: the confinement will "probably" be extended
Asked about the prospect of deconfinement, Édouard Philippe acknowledged that " many questions " arise on this issue, but that he "does not have all the answers ". Will it be a deconfinement by region? Will it be a deconfinement by generation? Will it be a deconfinement by serology? " What is certain is that deconfinement can only take place gradually, " he said, announcing that he had asked Jean Castex, the former deputy secretary general of the Elysée under Nicolas Sarkozy, to work on the various scenarios envisaged. " The deconfinement, it is not for tomorrow morning, " however, wanted to clarify the Prime Minister.
Read also: Deconfinement, slippery terrain for the executive
● The executive favors the “full continuous control” track for the baccalaureate
Immersed in the uncertainty as to the holding of the baccalaureate, the some 750,000 French high school students will be fixed " very soon " on " the conditions under which " their exam will take place this year. " It is almost acquired today, and even, let us say, acquired definitively, that the baccalaureate exams cannot take place in June as they take place every year. And that they will not be able to take place in July either, which was obviously a hypothesis, because that would pose other problems, of compatibility with competitions ... ", confirmed the Prime Minister.
Read also: Bac 2020: the tests cannot take place in June
" That means that it will very probably have to organize the Bac 2020 tests in a completely new and completely original way. (...) Either it will be a full continuous check. Either one can hope to combine with this continuous control a test which would be organized at the end of June (...). I believe, for my part, that it will be on the track of the most complete continuous monitoring that we will have to rest (...) ”, he detailed.
● "The hospital is under considerable pressure", but "the system will hold up"
Proud of the “ scientific and technical prowess ” which made it possible to evacuate “ this weekend more than 550 intubated and ventilated patients ”, transferred from the Great East to less saturated areas of the country, Édouard Philippe recalled the objective set: " To ensure that resuscitation admissions never exceed capacity ". “ The hospital is under considerable pressure. But it holds. It still holds (...). With many difficulties - I do not hide them (...). The system will hold up, but we have to stay focused, we have to stay vigilant, ”he insisted.
● “Tension” around certain resuscitation molecules, with “more limited” stocks
While the " consumption of products necessary for resuscitation (drugs or consumables) explodes in proportions never imagined ", or up to " almost 2000% ", Edouard Philippe recognized that " there are very strong tensions in the 'supply of a number of molecules '. The head of government indicated that " eight molecules are essential for resuscitation care ". " A certain number is in sufficient stock ", but " for others, stocks are more limited, so the tensions and the caregivers' concerns are real ". " My number 1 priority for the Prime Minister is to source and be able to meet demand, " said the Prime Minister, who said that " we have the resources, and we have the will ."
Read also: Pr Rémi Salomon: "Some essential drugs will be missing"
● “We must give the hospital the means to rebuild and reorganize”
In accordance with the commitment of Emmanuel Macron, who promised a " massive investment and career enhancement plan " in the hospital, Édouard Philippe confirmed that it will be necessary to " learn lessons " from the current sequence. “ The shock is severe and will have been even more severe at the end of this health crisis. It will be necessary to draw the means to the hospital to rebuild and to reorganize to face in the long term the epidemic ”. Clearly, take into account the shortcomings of the past, but also prepare for the future. " The lessons that we are going to draw must allow us (...) to give us the agility necessary to face hypotheses such as these or different: I know that when we prepare for the crisis before we have rarely the solution to the next crisis , "he said.
● The postponement of the municipal elections would imply reorganizing the first round
As Le Figaro revealed on Wednesday, Edouard Philippe confirmed that the executive was indeed planning to postpone the municipal elections until October. " If we note, in May, that it is not possible to organize the second round of municipal elections in June - which many observers and actors in political life anticipate or feel. If we find that this is not possible, then the elections will have to be postponed. Maybe in October, maybe after, ”he said.
" In the 30,143 municipalities where the elections allowed the composition of a municipal council from the first round, there is no question of going back on these results, " he said. On the other hand, " if for the 5000 remaining municipalities it is necessary to organize the second round not in June but much later, then it will very probably have to reorganize the two rounds of these municipal elections ", he concluded, promising to involve Parliament in such a decision.
● "Raising taxes" to get out of the crisis would be "would be the worst thing"
" The health crisis will become an economic crisis, " said Edouard Philippe, " because the brake is so brutal, so massive, and so lasting that we will have to help the country overcome this crisis and restart ." " The worst thing, when we are in a crisis, would be to raise taxes, " he warned. " We have to organize ourselves so that the country holds up, so that businesses survive, and so that once the health crisis has passed, a national recovery plan , a European recovery plan - I hope - and a global recovery plan - maybe . ”
