Paris (AFP)

Faced with the second wave of Covid-19 which risks becoming "dramatic", Emmanuel Macron addresses the French on Wednesday evening to announce a series of more restrictive measures and urge them to better act as a barrier to the virus.

Targeted restrictions, local curfew, teleworking, transport: "all the options are on the table", said his entourage, after the holding of a health defense council at the Elysee Palace on Tuesday morning and while Prime Minister Jean Castex brings together the ministers concerned around him Tuesday evening.

However, any local re-containment seems ruled out at this stage, but Emmanuel Macron could decide on very restrictive measures, as Guyana has experienced and in recent days several German cities including Berlin.

Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer also excluded Tuesday on RTL "a priori" the announcement by Emmanuel Macron of measures concerning schools, colleges and high schools.

Emmanuel Macron should first call for a "citizen burst" when the state does not have the legal power to control the homes.

It should also announce an acceleration of tests, thanks to the arrival of new much faster techniques, such as saliva tests, as well as reinforced protection for seniors.

Beyond health issues, the Head of State will detail economic and social aid measures, as part of his line of "whatever the cost" launched on March 12.

"The objective is to break the speed of contamination of the virus without blocking the reconstruction of the economy," explains those around him.

More and more economic sectors are calling on the State for help in the face of their loss of income, such as fairgrounds, VTC drivers and nightclub owners in recent days.

The objective is a "collective awareness", according to a source close to the executive.

"The French need benchmarks, they want clarity in the medium and long term. We must give them a trajectory, a timetable for the coming months", indicates the entourage of the Head of State, who evokes a pivotal period for the next six to eight weeks.

These measures should be implemented very quickly because "every day counts", given the simulations of the possible number of deaths presented to the Defense Council.

Emmanuel Macron does so like the other European leaders, the German Angela Merkel, the Briton Boris Johnson or the Spaniard Pedro Sanchez, who have all warned their fellow citizens that "the most difficult times are ahead of us".

Its priority remains more than ever "to avoid a general reconfinement" so as not to put the economy and social and educational life at a standstill, as in the spring.

"The French are afraid as much for their health as for their jobs. We must therefore talk to them about both," said the president's entourage.

- "Risk of jacquerie" -

Nightmare for restaurateurs already very fragile, the hypothesis of a curfew with the closure of shops, bars and restaurants early in the evening, worries the opposition.

"It is a heavy decision, an important restriction of freedom", warns the deputy PS Boris Vallaud, by evoking a "risk of jacquerie".

"It may be necessary in large cities", and in this case "we will be in favor", for his part, the president of deputies LR Damien Abad suggests.

"I do not believe in this measure. It will not apply. France does not have the police force to enforce a curfew", judges the boss of UDI deputies Jean-Christophe Lagarde.

"The restrictions are when you have missed everything," said Marine Le Pen (RN).

France is one of the most affected countries: day after day, the incidence rate (number of positive cases over the last seven days per 100,000 inhabitants) climbs to the point of reaching levels that are out of control, particularly among the 20-30 year olds with a record in Paris where it has just exceeded 800 when the alert level is at 50. But it rises in all age groups and in many metropolises, still exceeding 250 in Toulouse (256, 5) and reaching 424 in Lille for example, according to figures obtained from regional health agencies (ARS).

The test positivity rate now reaches 11.5% in France, including 17% in Paris.

Almost 50% of resuscitation beds in Ile-de-France are occupied by Covid patients, causing operations to be canceled.

But this occupancy rate also exceeds the critical threshold of 30% in Occitania or at the Hospices Civils de Lyon.

Faced with this degradation, the executive faces a sizeable challenge: to convince the French, first and foremost the young, that the fight is being played out above all in the private sphere.

"There is 50% individual responsibility. We won't get there if people don't get started," said a government source.

The boss of the Public Assistance-Hospitals of Paris Martin Hirsch calls, in Le Parisien, "everyone to have 20% less social contacts".

bur-jmt-leb-jri / ib / cbn

© 2020 AFP