Olivier Véran: "the confinement will last as long as necessary"

The Minister of Health Olivier Véran said on Tuesday that confinement "will last as long as necessary" because " we are not yet at the epidemic peak ", and judged that we should " not talk too much about deconfinement ". " 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.

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The 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. 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, 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.

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" 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. Regarding serological tests, one of the keys to breaking out of confinement, Olivier Véran indicated that they would be " taken care of, obviously ", by social security.

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.

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