Avoid loosening. Health Minister Olivier Véran said on Tuesday that confinement "will last as long as necessary" because "we are not yet at the peak of the epidemic". He also judged that one should "not speak too early of the deconfinement", sort of development after the relaxation observed in recent days in France and also the tracks evoked by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe during the fact-finding mission in the National Assembly.
"I understand the impatience of the French, but my message is to say that the confinement continues more than ever" and that it "will last as long as it needs to last," said Olivier Véran on BFMTV and RMC.
Véran defends confinement, "more than necessary", because the epidemic is "still in the worsening phase" https://t.co/SAqCm2t9X8 pic.twitter.com/tP8wiUxOwm
- BFMTV (@BFMTV) April 7, 2020The worsening of the coronavirus epidemic "is being curbed under the effect of containment and our efforts" but "we are not yet at the peak of the epidemic" because "there are always more sick people every day "Said the Minister of Health.
833 dead Monday
France had its deadliest day on Monday, with 833 dead including 605 in hospital in 24 hours, but the number of resuscitation patients in serious condition recorded its lowest net balance since the start of containment measures on March 17, with 94 more patients.
According to the minister, "we must not talk too much about deconfinement, otherwise we have the impression that it is finished". Asked about a possible extension beyond April 15, Mr. Véran said that there would be "perhaps an intervention by the President of the Republic, or the Prime Minister, or both, this week" to decide.
VIDEO. Deconfinement, taxes, bac…. What to remember from the intervention of Edouard Philippe on TF1
"It is up to each of us to be able to understand that by staying at home, we save lives," continued the minister, insisting on the "enormous sacrifices" asked of the population.
Always reserved on hydroxychloroquine
Regarding serological tests, one of the keys to breaking out of confinement, Mr. Véran indicated that they would be “taken care of, obviously”, by social security.
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Asked about hydroxychloroquine, a chloroquine derivative tested in clinical trials, he replied: "I have elements which come back to me from hospitals which do not show, at this stage, a statistically significant effect of l 'any of the molecules' tested on patients.
