The ax has fallen. Faced with the lack of "discipline" of the French and the doubling of the number of cases observed in 72 hours, France has now entered stage 3 of the coronavirus epidemic, meaning that the virus now circulates throughout the territory.
It is in this context, before the daily bulletin of the Director of Health, that Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced this Saturday evening the closure at midnight and "until further notice" of all "places receiving public non-essential to the life of the country ".
Restaurants, bars, nightclubs, cinemas are therefore expected to close their doors tonight. Shops are also affected, with the exception of food stores, pharmacies, banks, tobacconists or petrol stations, said the Prime Minister.
Elections maintained, “essential” businesses open
On the other hand, the first round of municipal elections will take place on Sunday "as planned", on the condition of "strictly respecting the instructions for distancing and prioritizing the elderly and frail", added Edouard Philippe, asking "calm" and "civility " to the French. However, he did not explicitly advance on the holding of the second round next Sunday, March 22.
"All the services essential to the life of our citizens will obviously remain open," said the Prime Minister, such as food businesses, pharmacies and tobacco shops.
Public transport continues to operate
If "urban transport will continue to operate", the government urges the French to limit "their travel and in particular to avoid inter-urban travel". "I say it seriously: we must all show more discipline in the application of these measures," insisted Edouard Philippe, who consulted this Saturday the Scientific Council made up of ten experts.
"What we have to do at the moment is simply to avoid gathering as much as possible, limit friendly and family gatherings, use public transport only to go to work and only if the physical presence at the work is essential, only go out of your home to do your essential shopping, do some exercise or vote, "he said.
4,500 known cases, including 300 serious
Justifying this decision, the Prime Minister notably deplored having "seen too many people in cafes, restaurants". "I would be happy in normal times, but for a few weeks that is not what we have to do," he added, noting that "the first measures taken to limit gatherings were imperfectly applied".
Just after the Prime Minister's announcements, Director General of Health Jérôme Salomon announced that 830 new cases of patients infected with the new coronavirus had been detected in France, for a total of 4,500 since the start of the epidemic which caused 91 dead in the country so far. To this must be added 300 serious cases with patients in intensive care. Among them, more than half concern patients under the age of sixty.
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