Paris (AFP)
Duration of confinement extension, wearing of a mask, digital tracing, revival of the economy for "the day after" ...: Emmanuel Macron, who will speak on Monday evening, must decide difficult subjects, faced with an epidemic of coronavirus with increasingly heavy consequences.
The only certainty is that the confinement will be "extended" beyond April 15, the Elysée announced to AFP. Until when ? The head of state could address the issue in his address this Easter Monday, his fourth since March 12.
Emmanuel Macron will thus take over from Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, who has been in charge of the main announcements over the past two weeks, notably that of a first extension of containment started on March 17.
After having advanced to evoke the preparation for the deconfinement last week, Édouard Philippe returned to the present to prepare the French for a long crisis. Like yesterday before the Assembly, he stressed Wednesday before the Senate that the confinement was called "obviously to last some time still".
With the approach of the Easter weekend and the beginning of the holidays for some, the authorities fear a relaxation while the death toll now exceeds 10,000 dead in the country, even if the number of admissions to intensive care slows sharply.
Criticized for a trip that caused a crowd of dozens of people around him in Pantin, Emmanuel Macron is also expected on the controversies that have continued to grow, in particular on the need or not of the widespread port of the mask.
He should not at this stage advise him to the entire population, government spokesman Sibeth Ndiaye hinted on Wednesday.
"In the context of containment, it is necessary to ensure that people go out as little as possible. Therefore, the question of masks for the general population does not arise immediately", but only "within the framework of the strategy of deconfinement ", according to her.
The government will then position on this subject "on the basis of scientific consensus", but the experts diverge, underlined Sibeth Ndiaye, since it is recommended by the Academy of Medicine but not by the WHO and can "lead to a relaxation on other barrier gestures ".
- "Preserve employees" -
By Monday, Emmanuel Macron plans to consult "a large number of public and private, French, European and international actors" in order to "prepare the decisions to be announced on Monday," according to the Elysée Palace.
On Wednesday, it thus consulted experts from the World Health Organization, some of its European partners, its Scientific Council and elected officials in the field, on key elements such as masks, vaccines, tests and exit from containment.
The government seems to hesitate about installing a patient tracking application called StopCovid, a track unveiled Wednesday by the Minister of Health Olivier Véran and the Secretary of State for Digital Cédric O, but which is criticized to the breast of the Republic's deputies on the march.
"The government's position has not been finalized," said Sibeth Ndiaye, indicating that "neither a date nor the effective launch of such an application" has been validated.
As for serological tests, if their accuracy is now "verified", their industrial production, particularly in France, will not ramp up until the end of April.
On the measures to support the economy, the choices of the executive seem clearer. Minister Bruno Le Maire assured that the payment of partial unemployment, used by a quarter of employees and which will cost tens of billions of euros, will be "maintained for the duration of this health and economic crisis".
"We have made a choice which is to preserve the skills, the employees rather than having as in the United States, millions of additional unemployed", in order to facilitate the restart, he justified.
For Emmanuel Macron as for the government, the challenge is to regain the confidence of the French on crisis management, which has declined significantly in the past two weeks. A Label poll, however, showed a slight increase of 2 points on Wednesday, to 43% the number of them saying he trusted "to fight effectively against the coronavirus epidemic".
Recent studies show an increase in the popularity of Emmanuel Macron since the start of the crisis. But political scientist Jérôme Sainte-Marie puts it in perspective, noting that it "limited if we compare it to other crises or wars like the Gulf War".
"Today, we cannot say whether Emmanuel Macron will come out consolidated or weakened after the crisis. There are no signs that he will come out consolidated, his popularity is limited and too fragile," he said.
In such a context of uncertainty about the evolution of the epidemic, "the posture is + every day suffices its pain +", summarizes the political analyst Stéphane Rozès.
© 2020 AFP