The coronavirus crisis is not over: the executive keeps repeating it. Friday morning, Emmanuel Macron gathers his ministers for a defense council dedicated to the Covid. The agenda: take stock of the epidemic in France and study new measures, while the number of new cases has increased by 26% in one week. The subjects that will be on the table: tests, especially at airports, and the issue of border controls ... even their closure.
"We are not forbidding ourselves to fight the epidemic," government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Wednesday. "The only objective is to protect the French as well as possible", he continued. "The pandemic is expanding around the world. It is undoubtedly to be compared with the relaxation observed in the barrier gestures", explains one within the executive.
No announcements are to be expected
With this defense council, Emmanuel Macron also wants to plan for the start of the school year. "It will allow us to start giving visibility to all the players," said the government spokesperson. The decree banning large gatherings runs until the end of August. The threshold of 5,000 participants will be examined.
"But the possibilities of easing do not seem reasonable," tempers a source in the executive. No announcement is to be expected at the end of this defense council, a very confidential body.