Paris (AFP)
Restrictions by Saturday in Lyon and Nice, perhaps a hardening in Marseille and Guadeloupe, but no announcement to reduce the times of tests: the Minister of Health Olivier Véran drew on Thursday the roadmap for the next days to counter the "progression of the epidemic" of Covid-19.
"The epidemic is once again very active in our country", with a "dynamic" which "worries" in "certain territories", explained Mr. Véran during a press conference with an educational tone which will now be weekly.
Consequence: the prefects will have to propose "by Saturday" measures for the metropolitan areas of Lyon and Nice, where the incidence rate (new cases) is 4 times and 3 times higher than the "alert rating" of 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
And "if the health situation does not improve" in Marseille and Guadeloupe (where restrictions have also been adopted), "it will no doubt be necessary to take even stronger measures", warned Mr. Véran, citing "the possible closing bars "or" banning public gatherings ".
These announcements respond to the government's desire not to apply the same measures uniformly in France, but to "adapt them to each territory".
This is one of the "four pillars" of its strategy.
The other three are barrier gestures (including the mask), the triptych "test, alert, protect", and "protection of the elderly and the most vulnerable".
- Anything new at school?
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In addition, nursery professionals, who until now had to wear the mask only in the presence of parents, will now also have to wear it with children, under a new opinion from the High Council for Public Health on questions of transmission from children to children and children to adults.
"These new elements will allow us in the next few days to relax the health protocol in schools," continued Olivier Véran without further clarification, indicating that the Minister of National Education would return to this issue.
On the other hand, he did not announce measures allowing to reduce the too long delays to make a test or to have the result of it.
"We are facing real organizational difficulties," he conceded.
To solve this problem, the authorities have already defined priority people (people who have a prescription, those who have symptoms or caregivers).
In addition, antigen tests, which are faster than current RT-PCRs, are now allowed, but not for people with symptoms or "contact cases".
And we are waiting for the arrival of other rapid tests, the saliva tests.
"We are imminently awaiting the opinion of the High Authority for Health" (HAS), said Mr. Véran.
Four months after the end of confinement, the situation is worrying.
First, the number of contaminations in France is growing steadily (more than 10,000 in 24 hours according to figures from Thursday evening, a record level since the launch of large-scale tests).
More worrying, this increase begins to be felt on hospitalizations and resuscitation.
- Mistrust -
Over the last seven days, 3,223 have been hospitalized and 535 admitted in sheaves, including 599 and 81 for Thursday alone.
A month ago, there were around 200 daily hospitalizations and around 30 sheave admissions.
Currently, 5,825 Covid-19 patients are hospitalized and 793 are in shifts.
Admittedly, we are far below the levels reached during the peak of the epidemic, with 7,000 sick people in early April.
But the fear is that these figures go up with a few weeks delay on the contaminations then that the hospitals end up being overwhelmed.
"The risk was that the virus passes from the youngest to the less young and vulnerable people, who have more serious forms. This is what we have been observing for several weeks," noted Mr. Véran.
We will have to "live with this virus for a few more months", he warned.
In addition to this rebound, the government must also overcome the growing mistrust of the population.
Nearly one in two French people find that the executive does not "take enough precautions" and 62% do not "trust" it to fight the epidemic, according to an Elabe poll for BFMTV.
During the Defense Council last Friday, "the president was demanding on a number of points, demanding results," a government source told AFP.
"I have the confidence of the president," assured Mr. Véran, while the media assured that the latter had put him under pressure.
© 2020 AFP