This Thursday morning will sign - except in the event of a relapse of course - the end of a situation as unprecedented (in France) as difficult to manage for the authorities.
That of a president who contracted Covid-19, forced to isolate himself at La Lanterne with a tight workforce: his aide-de-camp, a doctor from the army service attached to the Elysee, bodyguards, a stewardship for maintenance and meals served on a tray, ie no more than ten people in all.
And this, while the Prime Minister Jean Castex, the secretary general of the Elysee Palace Alexis Kohler and the president of the National Assembly Richard Ferrand, as many senior officials of the power, all cases contacts of the head of state, were them also in isolation.
At his age (he was 43 on Monday evening), Emmanuel Macron is not considered a person at risk.
But everyone around him was aware of how delicate the question of his state of health, and therefore of his ability to make decisions, was.
Hence the dissemination of medical bulletins weighed with a trebuchet in recent days.
“He had real symptoms, a fairly severe Covid with a very severe dry cough, a big blow of fatigue.
It really reached him, especially over the weekend, ”says a minister.
However, laughs an intimate, "we felt he had a little more time than usual": "He has fewer appointments, we have more messages.
"
"We needed the right mix of communication"
His septaine began with a media backfire: this famous video of the president last Friday to counter the controversy over his recklessness, while a majority dinner was held at the Elysee Palace the day before his positive test.
“Being transparent, continuing to work, being exemplary, these were the three imperatives.
And we needed the right mix of communication, ”observes a relative.
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No question of giving the feeling that the top of the state was at a standstill.
During his isolation, Emmanuel Macron thus, according to his entourage, exchanged several times a day with Jean Castex, ministers, but also with his foreign counterparts - in particular the American Donald Trump (Saturday), Vladimir Poutine (Tuesday) and especially European leaders.
At the end of the phone, Angela Merkel, Charles Michel and Ursula Van der Leyen, or Boris Johnson, to talk about the Covid crisis and above all ... Brexit - "the epidemic is crushing everything, but it is the big topic of the moment" , blows a loved one.
Isolated, but "at work"
On the domestic scene, he convened (remotely) an emergency Defense Council on Sunday, before appearing on Monday to chair the Council of Ministers by videoconference, images of which were broadcast.
Far from the Elysee Palace, he also took the time to respond to an interview with L'Express.
The message was the following: isolated, but "at work", we hammer at the Elysee.
Until Tuesday, the president's condition was portrayed as "stable".
It was not until Wednesday morning for the Elysee to let it be known, without further clarification, that his state of health presented "signs of improvement".
As for Jean Castex and Richard Ferrand, they were both diagnosed negative this Thursday after a new test.
Putting an end to their isolation in Matignon for the first, and in the National Assembly for the second.
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