Marseille (AFP)

Professor Raoult, whose recommendations for chloroquine treatment of Covid-19 patients are controversial, announced Tuesday to step back from the scientific council accompanying the executive on the disease, ensuring favoring a "direct" link, in particular with Emmanuel Macron.

In a video published on YouTube and relayed on social networks, Didier Raoult claims to keep in touch with the Ministry of Health and the President of the Republic "directly", "to tell them what I think", "because the council does not correspond to what I think is a duty of strategic advice. "

Earlier in the day, a spokesperson for the hospital-university institute (IHU) Mediterranean infection that he heads in Marseilles denied AFP an information from Les Echos that Didier Raoult had "slammed the door" of the advice, ensuring that the latter had not resigned. "Busy at the head of the IHU Mediterranean infection, he will not participate in the next meetings," said a spokesperson for the IHU.

On the first two opinions (dated March 12 and 14) of the scientific council, made public by the Ministry of Health, the name of Professor Raoult appears with the words "excused". On the other hand, his name no longer appears in the list of members on the third opinion, dated March 16.

Didier Raoult, a recognized specialist in infectious diseases, is currently testing chloroquine - an antimalarial - on patients with Covid-19.

On Sunday, his team announced their intention to administer "hydroxychloroquine + azithromycin" to all infected patients.

In his video published Tuesday, Mr. Raoult said he was "overwhelmed with support emails" and said he was running out of time: "We have 75 patients hospitalized, 600 people to be tested per day". He said he had "a lot of help" from public assistance and the Regional Health Agency "with the difficulties they sometimes have in organizing things that we do here that do not necessarily correspond to the guidelines that are do ".

The Minister of Health Olivier Véran said Monday that he was preparing to authorize treatment with hydroxychloroquine but only for severe forms and in a hospital setting "on the collegial decision of doctors" and promised an order on the subject.

"In the absence of any convincing data", it is however excluded to prescribe it in the general population or for non-severe cases.

© 2020 AFP