Edouard Philippe defends health controls at borders

Asked Tuesday evening about the implementation of containment in France, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe clarified and justified certain decisions:

• Closing the border with the United Kingdom could be considered if the country does not adopt strict measures against the epidemic: "It goes without saying that if States, like the United Kingdom, do not take these measures , we would find it difficult to accept their nationals on our territory. "

• On the closing of borders within the Schengen area: "As soon as we are in a measure of containment, it may make sense to carry out health checks at the borders. But to close them completely is to complicate the transport of products, complicating border work (...) The main thing is to ensure that entry into the European zone is controlled from a health point of view, but all the countries in the zone must adopt coherent processes to fight the epidemic. "

The doctors and the nursing assistants do an exceptional job which obliges us all. The best way to honor them is to follow the instructions: stay home. # JT20H # COVID19 pic.twitter.com/9s92ebG48q

• The government does not rule out resorting to nationalization if the situation requires it to "save" vital businesses in great difficulty. "In cases of extreme difficulty, if we had to get there, we would do it. Not out of ideology, but to avoid the disappearance of vital businesses," he said. About Air France, the head of government says he "made the decision to abolish a number of taxes on air transport, 700 million are committed. We take our responsibilities as a shareholder. This crisis n has no equal to what we have known in the past. "

• There will be no administrative redundancies

• Asked about the statements of Agnès Buzyn, the former health minister, who claims in Le Monde not to have been heard when she alerted on the maintenance of municipal elections, the Prime Minister claims to have taken "all the necessary decisions" in based on the advice of scientists.

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