Three weeks after a first long-term press conference to take stock of the situation, Édouard Philippe spoke again on the coronavirus crisis, Sunday afternoon, in the company of Olivier Véran, Minister of Health, and Florence Ader, infectious disease specialist. Among the highlights of this press conference is the idea that the epidemic is less serious than a few weeks ago, but that "the health crisis is not over". We take stock of the elements to retain from this situation point.
After a month, "containment worked"
This is the first observation made by Edouard Philippe: the confinement put in place on Tuesday April 17 for the vast majority of French people "worked". "This health crisis is not over but we are scoring points," he said. Since the start of containment, 13.5 million checks have been carried out, with 800,000 violations observed.
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Two "principles" for deconfinement
Refusing to go into the details of a comprehensive deconfinement plan, which will be presented "in two weeks", Édouard Philippe set two "principles", two conditions, for after May 11. It is a question of "restoring the reception capacity of hospitals" and "making sure to limit the circulation of the virus as much as possible.
In the absence of a vaccine and of a known effective treatment, he insisted on three "tools" to ensure prevention against the virus, that are "barrier gestures", brought to durably interfere in daily life of the French, "rapid tests" with the objective of 500,000 tests per week by May 11 and "the isolation of carriers of the virus".
No reopening of all schools on May 11
The Prime Minister recalled the principle of a "gradual reopening" of nurseries, schools, colleges and high schools: "Schools will not open everywhere on May 11 and will not operate everywhere under the conditions in which they operated on February 11 or before". As for the concrete arrangements for reopening the establishments, no "decision" has yet been taken and "all the hypotheses are on the table".
Isolation possible at the hotel for people tested positive
If a person is tested positive for coronavirus from May 11, he will have a decision to make, said the Prime Minister: "You will have the choice between a home confinement, which will weigh on you and all of those who live with you very strict obligations not to go out, or a place which is not your domicile, which could be a hotel. In this case, you will spend a fixed period in this hotel to avoid contaminating other people".
Better on the hospital front
The improvement in the situation observed is first reflected on the hospital front, with two phenomena. First, a new drop in the number of hospitalizations and resuscitation admissions, announced by the Director General of Health, Jérôme Salomon. At the same time, "our capacity in terms of resuscitation beds has increased from 5,000 to 10,500", detailed Édouard Philippe. "We need to continue decreasing this occupation and to rebuild our forces."
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Wearing the "compulsory" mask in transport?
A fundamental element of the end of the crisis, the question of masks was addressed. "It is likely that when it comes to public transport, it is mandatory to wear a mask for the general public," said the Prime Minister. On the production side, "8 million" masks for the general public "were produced in the past week in our country", with the objective of "17 million per week by May 11".
Visiting rights in Ehpad
The Minister of Health Olivier Véran announced the establishment of "visiting rights" for families in the direction of the elderly in nursing homes, thanks to "new recommendations". Olivier Véran immediately clarified: "It will be under extremely limited conditions". There will be no more than two people from the families at the same time during the visits. These will take place under the responsibility of the directors of the establishment. Contacts will be prohibited, it will not be possible to touch the person. "There are a lot of things you can look at," added the minister.
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Maintaining telework encouraged
While France is experiencing "the greatest recession since 1945" and the end of the Second World War, "it will be necessary to ensure that telework continues as far as possible", encouraged the Prime Minister, to limit the risks of virus spread in businesses. "A number of businesses will be able to reopen," but "not cafes or restaurants," he said.
"Life before" will not be for tomorrow
Finally, despite several improvements on the front of the health crisis, it will be necessary "to always have the idea that our life from May 11 will not be exactly the life before the confinement", according to Edouard Philippe. "Not immediately and probably not for a long time," he stressed, adding that the French will have to "gradually learn to organize our collective life with this virus".