"The aggravation phase" of the Covid-19 epidemic "continues" in France, said Tuesday April 7 the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, on the BFM TV channel. He said that the epidemic peak had not yet been reached.

The increase in the number "of patients in serious condition admitted to the hospital is shrinking, slowing down but we are still increasing, which means that we are not yet at the epidemic peak", he explained. "It means that we are still in the aggravation phase of this epidemic on the national territory".

According to the latest official report provided on Monday evening, nearly 9,000 people died in France from the epidemic, including 6,494 in hospitals and 2,417 in medico-social establishments including establishments for dependent elderly people (Ehpad).

"Don't talk too much about deconfinement"

To try to contain the epidemic, France adopted drastic containment measures on March 17 which have already been extended by two weeks and which could be extended again on April 15.

"You will have the answer quickly," he said, referring to a possible "intervention in the week of the President of the Republic or the Prime Minister or both". "But we mustn't talk too much about deconfinement, because when we start talking about the aftermath, we have the feeling that it's over".

> Read also: Symptoms, transmission, double infection: what we know about the Covid-19

The start of the Easter school holidays in zone C, which includes Île-de-France in particular, and the mild weather have made the executive fear in recent days a "loosening" of compliance with confinement.

The possibility of compulsory wearing of the mask mentioned

Several elected officials have also expressed the wish in recent days to make the wearing of masks mandatory for all, like the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, and the president Les Républicains (LR) of the Provence-Alpes-Côte- d'Azur, Renaud Muselier.

When asked if wearing a mask could become compulsory in France, Olivier Véran replied: "the answer may be".

If the scientific authorities "should tell us that the strategy must evolve [in terms of] masks, with all humility, I will come back to the French to tell them that the strategy has evolved," he added, but "to this stage I don't have enough elements. "

With Reuters

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