Auditioned by the National Assembly's commission of inquiry on the coronavirus, Edouard Philippe defended his management of the health crisis.

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BERTRAND GUAY / AFP

  • This Wednesday, Edouard Philippe answered questions from the National Assembly's commission of inquiry on the coronavirus.

  • The parliamentarians questioned him on the maintenance of the first round of the municipal elections or on the inability of the government to avoid a shortage of masks during the first wave.

  • During his hearing, the former Prime Minister defended his management of the health crisis which "has saved many lives".

What did he know?

Could he have prevented the shortage of masks?

And avoid strict and generalized containment?

While France is now experiencing a second wave of coronavirus, former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe went to the National Assembly on Wednesday, where he was summoned to be heard by the commission of inquiry into the coronavirus.

It is under an azure blue sky, on foot, masked and rather serene that the former head of government went to the Palais Bourbon.

After taking the oath, raising his right hand and swearing to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, Edouard Philippe responded to a shower of questions asked by deputies from all sides on his management of the health crisis, from the first information transmitted on the coronavirus in early January until the weeks following the deconfinement, before passing the torch to Jean Castex, appointed Prime Minister at the beginning of July.

During his hearing which lasted nearly two hours and forty minutes, if Edouard Philippe readily acknowledged "some communication errors", especially on the need to wear a mask in the general population, he especially defended his management of the crisis which according to him "allowed to save a lot of lives".

Should the first round of municipal elections be maintained?

Bars and restaurants closed, but millions of French people called to vote for the first round of municipal elections on March 15, just two days before the start of general confinement: Edouard Philippe was asked about the risk factor for the spread of virus represented by the maintenance of this controversial election.

“We asked ourselves the question: 'Does it make sense to change the date of these municipal elections?”

The scientific council at that time said - and wrote - that going to vote once the measures [barriers] have been taken is not radically different from going shopping, ”he justified himself.

Citing the fact that "there was no scientific or political consensus on the issue".

"Going to vote and holding the elections, that's not a bad thing", he assured, before adding that "the fact of going to vote in a democracy is not comparable with the fact of go have a coffee ”.

If he acknowledged that "the [electoral] campaign was probably a more dangerous factor", because "it's tactile, we shake hands", for the former tenant of Matignon, "we made the right decision By maintaining the first round of the ballot.

Otherwise, “we would have experienced a major political crisis”.

Why did France not have enough masks at the start of the epidemic?

This is the question that came up several times during the hearing of Edouard Philippe.

How could the state run out of masks and have such trouble getting hold of them?

A 2018 report from Public Health France, however, pointed to the need to reconstitute the strategic stock of state masks, then reduced to 117 million masks, far from the billion recommended by the document.

"I was not aware of any of these documents," assured the former Prime Minister.

“When I asked the question, I was told: 'We have 117 million masks, we consume five million a week in hospitals, we produce four million in France and we import them from China.'

Then, instead of five million, we went to 40 million per week, we could not increase production or get supplies because China kept its masks, ”said the former head of government.

He admitted, “We didn't have as many masks as we needed.

At that time, they had to be ordered, produced and shipped, in a period of disorganization of air transport, with the problem of auctions on the tarmac, he defended himself.

Yes, it took a long time to happen, but we have taken measures, in particular to facilitate the production of standardized masks for the general public ”.

Edouard Philippe also recognized “some communication errors.

I said to a “13h00” on TF1 that wearing a mask in the general population was useless.

I said it confidently because doctors told me so.

Today the doctrine has changed, I can see the overhang on which I am, he confided.

This is also why we opted for more factual communication, with figures and curves ”.

Did the executive react too late?

"Our country has gone through a major health crisis which has so far killed 34,000 of our citizens," said Eric Ciotti, rapporteur of the commission of inquiry.

Our fellow citizens had the feeling that a delay had marked the management of this crisis ”, questioning the former Prime Minister on“ an insufficiently important anticipation ”.

A question deemed “formidable” by Edouard Philippe, who defended himself from any delay in his government's management of the health crisis.

“Our response capacity seems to me to have been rapid,” he replied, pointing out the lack of scientific knowledge on the coronavirus at the start of the crisis.

“I think the way we handled the crisis saved a lot of lives.

Not all.

But it would be good for us to say it a little bit, ”said the former head of government.

Could we have avoided strict and generalized confinement?

Edouard Philippe recalled, “the indicator to guide decision-making was the number of places in intensive care.

(…) We have been faced with an increase in cases in Brittany, in the Oise and in the Haut-Rhin ”.

Faced with the sharp rise in cases of contamination, "we have taken progressive braking measures", such as "the closure of schools, then bars", he noted.

It is in the face of “the explosion” of cases that the government has opted for “containment”.

Containment then imposed even in nursing homes.

"The decision to ban visits, we took it with death at heart, we all have relatives in nursing homes, it's awful", he agreed, aware of the "risk of slipping" .

But “could we not take it?

Faced with the coming tide?

I do not believe ".

Our file on Covid-19

And even "if we had had a lot of masks and tests, I do not know if we could have avoided confinement," the former Prime Minister told parliamentarians.

“Today everyone has masks, but can we say that we are able to curb the epidemic?

This is not obvious ".

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  • Edouard Philippe

  • Health

  • epidemic

  • Coronavirus

  • Covid 19