In the News: confusion for leaving containment

Audio 04:18

Prime Minister Édouard Philippe on March 28, 2020 in Paris. Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt / Pool via REUTERS

By: Norbert Navarro

Publicity

Critical health situation, shortage of masks, peak of the epidemic not yet reached, and yet, indeed, the exit from confinement is already mentioned!

Even if Édouard Philippe said last night on television that the " deconfinement (was) not for tomorrow ", adding that the confinement will " probably " be extended beyond April 15 in France, several daily newspapers, before the Prime Minister did not come late to shower this hope, soon raised it to the front page. In their defense, it is true, the same Prime Minister, the day before yesterday evening, had himself mentioned the end of confinement before the deputies.

And this morning, therefore, the newspaper Le Parisien trumpeted it in One: " scenarios " of a gradual return to normal " are emerging "!

This is also the case with Le Figaro , whose “ headline ” evokes “ the scenarios for breaking out of confinement ”, before developing the said scenarios on page two. Because “ If to govern is to foresee, the opportunity is given (to the government) to provide proof. Several scenarios are being studied,reports Le Figaro . A little quickly, probably ...

Only here ... " we would have preferred not to tackle this subject now ", admits a member of the government in Le Figaro , because for this anonymous minister (or secretary of state), " evoking deconfinement, in this period, carries the risk again to send contradictory messages ”, explains Le Figaro . How he (or she) is right ...

The health situation is critical! In the Paris region anyway. Because the wave of contagion to the coronavirus is now threatening to overwhelm Ile-de-France :

The Paris region, it is no longer this morning the Ile-de-France but " the Isle of suffering ", launched in Une Liberation , because the number of patients in intensive care has "jumped".

Ile-de-France is “ struck to the heart , alarms this daily. The number of patients is on the way to exceeding the number of available beds (…) and the "peak" is announced for Monday, which means that it is still not reached ".

It was an internal message signed by the director general of the Regional Health Agency that sounded the alarm. The day before yesterday, it was sent to all carers in Ile-de-France. And this message, the newspaper Liberation was able to consult it. Its author is called Aurélien Rousseau, he is therefore, let us repeat, director of the Ile-de-France regional health agency, warns in his email that " more than 2,120 people in Covid + shifts " (that is to say in resuscitation due to the coronavirus) and a reception capacity that this high-ranking official of the health system announces in his email to " 2200 beds " ... Do the math ... Yes, you counted well, that makes eighty places which were still available two days ago. This means that hospitals in the Paris region have gone " into a bright red zone ," warns Liberation.

So ? So, all means are good to relieve the hospital system: " requisition of the medical reserve, transport by TGV or plane to lighten the weight that weighs on the Paris region, massive orders of masks, specialized equipment and medicines, appeal to the army, whose aid by its nature is precious, however: everything seems to be done to get out of this dramatic passage , ” Libé underlines again.

The management of masks by the French government is strongly questioned :

Questioned by Mediapart . In an investigation of about thirty pages, this online newspaper assures, concerning the masks, to bring " the proofs of a state lie ". From the end of January to the beginning of April, this website traces the procrastination and confusion of French leaders faced with this coronavirus crisis, and in particular the " failures " of the inter- ministerial cell dedicated to the purchase of masks. " Perhaps there were errors, concedes to Mediapart a member of this crisis cell . No doubt the state has not been reactive enough, and too wise in the requests .

In its investigation, this online newspaper also claims that the aircraft manufacturer Airbus " used a humanitarian convoy to supply itself discreetly ", in masks in order to equip its employees, ie " several thousand masks per day " , masks which therefore did not go to caregivers, while " the number of AP-HP professionals contaminated since the start of the epidemic has increased to 1,200 people ", Mediapart reports again.

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