Should the French population be confined for almost two months? Could we have done otherwise, in mid-March, to limit the spread of the coronavirus? Doctors of the Scientific Council, mandated to inform government decisions on this epidemic that killed nearly 30,000 people, were questioned on Thursday by the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the management of the crisis by the authorities.
>> LIVE - Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Thursday June 18
During this hearing, the President of the Scientific Council, Professor Jean-François Delfraissy, said it and repeated with the other doctors in this group: in mid-March, French hospitals were on the alert with more and more patients in intensive care. The general confinement of the French population was the only way to avoid the catastrophe, as in Italy at the time.
"A job to receive blows"
Another member of the Scientific Council, Arnaud Fontanet, agreed: he said that even if France had been able to carry out more coronavirus screening tests in early March, this would not have avoided the need for general confinement.
>> Find all of Europe 1's editorial newspapers in replay and podcast here
And yet, the day when Jean-François Delfraissy had to tell the political leaders that it was necessary to confine represented a very difficult moment to pass, he confided to the deputies: "I did not sleep for three, four nights after that. I knew it was a beating job. (…) We were really into something that stunned us. " The rest is well known: strict containment was in force from Tuesday March 17 to Monday May 11, as in many countries of the world, except for Sweden, whose recent figures on the front of the epidemic worry.
A reconfiguration in the fall?
Jean-François Delfraissy also discussed the future and the hypothesis of a second wave of coronavirus. According to the Scientific Council, "the risk of a second wave, and not of a reappearance, coming from the southern hemisphere and returning to the north, at the end of October, in November or in December, is a risk which must be considered ", he warned.
CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS
> Coronavirus in China: should we worry about the new situation?
> Schools, taxes, fight against racism… What you should remember from Emmanuel Macron's speech
> Coronavirus: 5 mistakes not to make with your mask
> Coronavirus: three initiatives that will disrupt our beach habits
> Between empty TGV and TER at a discount, SNCF is preparing for a bad summer
> Can we catch the coronavirus on a plane?
But there would be no question of carrying out a general reconfiguration if this second wave were to hit France. "It is neither possible nor desirable," said the specialist, opening the door to possible confinement of the oldest and most vulnerable, by letting the youngest go to school or work.