Paris (AFP)

The fall in the number of hospitalizations due to the coronavirus in France, for the first time since the beginning of the confinement entered on Thursday in its 31st day, raises hope, less than a month of the easing of the restrictions, which hover over many uncertainties.

The medical community remains however cautious on the evolution of the epidemic which made 17,167 deaths in the country since the beginning of March, 10,643 in the hospital and 6,524 in the Ehpad and other medico-social establishments, without counting the deaths at home.

Even more convincing, the balance of entries and exits in intensive care - indicator scrutinized by specialists - has been negative for seven days: 6,457 people required heavy care in these services Wednesday evening, 273 less than Tuesday.

The disease affected even the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, more than a third of whose sailors tested positive for Covid-19 since their early return Sunday, according to a still provisional assessment.

- "From black to dark gray" -

May 11, the date of the reduction in containment announced by President Emmanuel Macron, "we are not going to go from black to white, we are going to go from black to dark gray", warned the president of the government's Scientific Council on Wednesday the Assembly's fact-finding mission on Covid-19.

"It is a continuum, there will not be a before and an after. We must be extremely careful with this, otherwise the virus can start again," warned Professor Jean-François Delfraissy.

Specialists are still struggling to anticipate the dynamics of the epidemic, noted Professor Renaud Piarroux, head of the parasitology service at Pitié-Salpêtrière, in Paris. "When we look at what is happening in Italy, in confinement for ten days more than us, there is still a very high transmission", he worried on France Inter.

Nearly 18 million people at risk will have to remain confined, warned Professor Delfraissy before the Senate law commission.

For the Director General of Health, Jérôme Salomon, it will be necessary to keep "in the weeks and months that come these barrier measures, these rather unnatural gestures of physical and social distancing, to permanently protect the most vulnerable people".

- Consider a postponement -

And according to Pr Delfraissy, the deconfinement will have to be postponed if essential conditions, in particular a sufficient number of screening tests and the establishment of a system of tracing of the contacts of the new identified cases, are not met.

This possible resumption of activity on May 11 brings its share of controversies, like that linked to the surprise announcement by Emmanuel Macron of the reopening of crèches and educational establishments, with the exception of higher education.

Critics are all the more virulent as bars, restaurants and cinemas will remain closed. In addition, the economy no longer has to rely on summer festivals. The Old Plows have given up in turn.

Long awaited on its "complete exit plan" from containment, the government is now counting on an even more serious recession than expected, with an 8% drop in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020.

"We have years before coming out of the economic consequences of this crisis," said the Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire.

The emergency plan intended to support companies and employees now amounts to 110 billion euros.

Partial unemployment now concerns 8.7 million employees, said the Minister of Labor, Muriel Pénicaud, "more than one in three employees", at a cost at this stage of 24 billion euros.

The government also announced bonuses for caregivers and aids for the poorest households on Wednesday.

© 2020 AFP