Has the brooding “white hair revolt” already paid off? Very sensitive to the disarray, not to say the anger, of the French over 65 or 70 against a continued confinement of seniors beyond May 11, the government could well move towards a regime, not mandatory , but an incentive. Emmanuel Macron set the tone Friday, April 17, by announcing in the evening, by a press release, that he "did not wish to discriminate" against the elderly, and that he would rather call it "to the individual responsibility" of each facing the coronavirus.
Invited a few hours earlier before the MoDem deputies by videoconference, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran also assured, according to participants, that there was no question of forcing seniors to stay at their home, when most French people will gradually resume their activity.
Thursday evening, Edouard Philippe himself worried in front of relatives in Matignon of the anxiety of the elderly, worried about staying isolated for months. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in particular, had sown doubt by strongly urging them to have contacts "as limited as possible" until a vaccine is developed, "by the end of the year, ”she hopes. The chairman of the scientific council, Jean-François Delfraissy, for his part, spoke of 18 million people at risk, including those over 65 or 70 years old.
"They vote, not like young people"
“The old people are not happy, they don't want to go out after the young. They talk about generational discrimination! ", Warns an influential LREM MP, who also notes that" they vote, not like young people. A subject which is very difficult for the majority. “It's hard for them, we know it. But this constraint is linked to a concern for protection, not punishment ”, one explains to Matignon, ensuring that it is a“ real concern ”. At the top of the state, we can therefore be very careful not to stigmatize the elderly or to infantilize them.
Tuesday, Olivier Véran recalled that two thirds of patients in intensive care because of Covid-19 are over 60 years old. “The real difficulty is that a 60 year old person does not consider himself old. But the state also has a duty to protect, especially for the elderly in institutions, where there is a family discharge, "said a source within the executive. Clearly, summarizes a figure of the majority, "we should not that the seniors, who yell at us today because we are locked up, we are mad at tomorrow because they have fallen ill!" "
To resolve this squaring of the circle, the government is considering several avenues, not clear cut at this stage. One of which is to impose confinement beyond May 11 for elderly people in nursing homes (accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people). And a strong incentive to do the same for healthy retirees who live at home, leaving them free to take responsibility.
"We are on an incentive mode"
"We never said that we were going to oblige, we are on an incentive mode", explained Olivier Véran in substance to the elected MoDem. For the most vulnerable with health problems, the attending physician would be consulted on maintaining confinement.
After the yellow vests, "white vests"? "In the words of the President of the Republic Monday, April 13, there was no obligation", we defend ourselves to the government. “For their protection, we will ask the most vulnerable people […] to remain confined even after May 11, at least initially. You will have to try to stick to it to protect yourself, for your interest, ”said the head of state.
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VIDEO. Emmanuel Macron: "The most vulnerable, elderly people must remain confined after May 11"
Edouard Philippe could shed light on his press conference on Sunday. A pillar of the majority would almost smile: “It is the revolt of the young baby boomers. They experienced the Thirty Glorious Years, sexual freedom, retirement at age 60 and ecological recklessness. This generation is even more reluctant than the others to any deprivation of liberty. They do as they please, and there are many. "