Paris (AFP)

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe warned on Saturday that "the first 15 days of April will be even more difficult than the 15 days which have just passed", while the French assessment of the epidemic of coronavirus made a new jump.

"The fight is just beginning," said the head of government during a joint press conference with the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, during which they announced new efforts against the Covid-19, which killed 319 more people in the hospital in the last 24 hours, and 2,314 since the start of the crisis in France.

The head of government and his minister, who announced that they wanted to be transparent about the state effort, announced that France had ordered "more than a billion masks", particularly in China, that the number of beds in intensive care would increase to 14,000 beds, against 5,000 at the start of the crisis, and that the capacity to test the population would be multiplied until reaching 80,000 tests per day in late April.

"France is armed and it is not alone," assured the Prime Minister.

Mr. Véran also indicated that he was going to ask retirement homes and other nursing homes to "go to individual isolation" for each of their residents in order to better protect them.

"Discouragement is not part of my range of emotions," he added later, in response to the reporter who asked if he was affected by the mistrust of the French regarding the management of the crisis, measured by polls.

The Prime Minister preferred to congratulate himself on "a collective effort", "first that of the carers, admirable, courageous, committed", "but also the remarkable effort of those who, in the second line, ensure the continuity of life of the nation ", like the police, firefighters or even employees of large retailers.

Supported by maps and curves of the epidemic, Edouard Philippe recalled the two main axes of the government's strategy: "increase our capacity in the intensive care unit" and "flatten the curve" of the spread of the virus and serious cases with home confinement.

"I will not let anyone say that there was a delay in the decision on containment" from March 17, and which was extended until April 15, said the head of government, recalling the side " unpublished for over a century "of this" global epidemic ".

"At the time of this containment decision, there were less than 8,000 cases on the national territory and less than 200 deaths from the disease. Everyone will be able to appreciate the moments when the (foreign) governments made this decision. But I will not let anyone say that there has been a delay in the decision on containment, "he said.

Faced with criticism from the opposition and a part of the medical profession, the Prime Minister launched: "When the time comes, we will learn the lessons of the crisis together. I am not one of those who discard themselves in front of their Some think they know perfectly well what should be done and do not hesitate to criticize a posteriori. I leave them this luxury. "

"I understand perfectly, the anger, the distress, the distress of the health professionals who are waiting for protective equipment and who do not see it coming," nonetheless stressed Olivier Véran.

Deploring the "dark part" which can reappear during such a dramatic crisis, the Prime Minister has finally castigated "these scandalous words of a certain number of people who worry about the presence on the landing next to their home or nurses, carers or doctors below their homes because they are more exposed to the virus than others. "

© 2020 AFP