MEPs question executive crisis exit strategy

• Due to the coronavirus, the Questions to Government session was held in an almost empty National Assembly on Wednesday.
• Opposition MPs questioned the government on how to end the crisis.
• The tone rose between the rebellious Mathilde Panot and the Minister of Health Olivier Véran.

A minute of emotion-filled silence. The National Assembly pays tribute this Tuesday to former Minister Patrick Devedjian and LREM deputy for Vaucluse Jean-François Césarini, who both died this weekend. Richard Ferrand, its president, then opens the questions to the government, in a hemicycle once again empty, recalling the exceptional rules applied because of the coronavirus: only one deputy per group, a reduced number of questions, a handful of ministers to answer them .

Questions about French strategy

Olivier Marleix, deputy Les Républicains d'Eure-et-Loir, was the first to denounce the lack of massive screening in the territory, saying his "incomprehension" faced with the government's strategy. “A few days ago you announced a change of course, a turn. Who will benefit from these additional tests? "

Olivier Véran responds calmly to the arrival of the new equipment, announcing a “ramp-up of PCR tests” with soon 50,000 per day. "We have also placed orders for new tests", with faster results, continues the Minister of Health, referring to the figure of 30,000 per day from April and 100,000 in the next two months. He then mentioned serology tests, which will allow to know people already contaminated by Covid-19 and therefore immunized.

"PCR" screening tests: "We will be at 50,000 tests per day by the end of April," says @olivierveran. #DirectAN # COVID19 #QAG pic.twitter.com/Y9IqWeEt3o

When will we get out of containment?

Frédérique Dumas, deputy Liberties and Territories of Hauts-de-Seine, then points to the decision to extend the confinement by 15 days. "The scientific committee on which you say you rely had recommended six weeks, why these announcements of successive periods of 15 days? What is your strategy to face the coming weeks and the way out of the crisis? The questioning is resumed by Elsa Faucillon. "Are you waiting until you have the necessary number of tests to consider leaving containment?" Asks the Communist member for Hauts-de-Seine.

Olivier Véran gets up again, quotes an English study. “The effect of containment tends to show that every eight minutes we save a life by staying at home. We will stop confinement when hospitals have successfully dealt with the wave of serious patients. The Minister also discusses the current limits of scientific studies on the immunization of the population, which will make it possible to exit quarantine. "No country in the world has yet succeeded in establishing, developing, a widely disseminated serology, but research is progressing very quickly."

Edouard Philippe returns to it a little later. "The conditions on which we will be able to deconfinate are still being studied," he says, a little vague. But the Prime Minister indicates that the government will not take any risks. "Nobody wants the confinement to last too long, but no one would accept that the deconfinement would lead to an immediate increase in the number of severe cases. "

LFI denounces a lack of morphine? Olivier Véran gets annoyed

The questions are linked. Most often, Olivier Véran goes to the front. Always placid, the minister gets annoyed only once, when the rebellious Mathilde Panot denounces the lack of drugs in the hospital. "You are already asking the hospital staff to limit the use of morphine, your crisis management is a management of the shortage," torpedoed the elected member of Val-de-Marne.

"There is no request to limit the use of morphine from anyone!", Slice @olivierveran. The Minister confirms, however, that there are "tensions on the stocks of a certain number of products in hospitals". # DirectAN #QAG # COVID19 pic.twitter.com/8RtbCLHXz6

The former neurologist replied curtly: "I say this with seriousness, this is not information that can be manipulated like this, to create a platform effect. There is no request for limitation of medicines to fight the pain of patients, "he said, only acknowledging" tensions on the stocks of a certain number of products in hospitals ".

After the health crisis, parliamentarians question the executive on the economic repercussions. The exchanges, sometimes technical, last nearly two hours. A good rehearsal for Edouard Philippe and Olivier Véran, interviewed Wednesday at the Assembly by the parliamentary information mission on the coronavirus.

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• Covid 19
• Coronavirus
• Containment
• epidemic
• Government
• Parliament
• Deputy
• National Assembly