48 hours before a new speech to the French, according to information from Europe 1, Emmanuel Macron went this Tuesday to contact caregivers, who assured him of their mobilization to fight against the coronavirus while regretting the persistent lack of certain equipment. Remained discreet in recent days, the head of state left the Elysee Palace for a seventh trip since he devoted himself, like the whole of the government, to managing the health crisis.
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"Makeshift solutions to protect yourself"
Emmanuel Macron started his visit to Seine-Saint-Denis by thanking the inhabitants who "respect confinement in a remarkable way" in "a department where there is a lot of poverty" and which is one of the most affected by the pandemic. In the street, the president no longer has the surgical mask that he had fixed on his face when entering the multidisciplinary health center in Pantin, like all the people who work there or are welcomed there. In cramped premises where the distance of a meter is impossible, the discussion begins on the development of teleconsultations, which now represent "80% of consultations", explains doctor Yohan Saynac.
But, as during each of his trips, the president is caught up by the lack of protective equipment (masks, overcoats, charlottes ...) from which caregivers suffer, forced to invent "makeshift solutions", according to the doctor which specifies at the microphone of Europe 1 "not to be in safety".
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"We should be able to relieve you"
"We must be able to relieve you," replied Emmanuel Macron, welcoming their "wonderful" work. Before reassuring once again that the scale of the problem was difficult to predict. "Even the best-thought-out plans did not contemplate that China and the other countries would be affected at the same time," he said. "What we thought was worthless six months or a year ago, which we thought was the most stupid thing to do, all of a sudden" has become rare, he adds, referring to the masks and other equipment protection.
An hour later, Emmanuel Macron, still surrounded by fifteen people, is again arrested on this issue in La Courneuve, the second stage of his trip, where he talks with social workers and elected officials on the support given to people elderly and vulnerable. "It's the resource" to get masks, testifies the mayor Gilles Poux (PCF), explaining having to rely on "the endowments of private companies".
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President arrested on screening tests
Also challenged on the tests, Emmanuel Macron stresses that, to launch them, it is first necessary to "stabilize" them at the scientific level. And he evokes the first results carried out in the Oise, which would show that 15% to 20% of the population is now immune, according to the Elysée. During his discussions, the Head of State also insisted on the importance of "not forgetting other diseases" outside of the Covid-19. "It is very important, during this period, to continue to see the doctor, the nurse, when you have a chronic illness," he underlines.