If the government is determined to do everything to avoid reaching the end of a new re-containment, some ministers concede half-heartedly that this measure would be the only truly effective in reducing the pressure on the hospital system.

Faced with the explosion in the number of coronavirus cases, 38 new departments will go under curfew from Friday evening, announced Jean Castex.

This measure will therefore concern some 46 million French people.

But in the medical community, more and more doctors are directly calling for a containment in the face of an epidemic that now seems out of control.

Thursday evening, the figures of Public Health France showed 41,622 new contaminations, unheard of since the implementation of screening tests.

Even if the government officially refuses to do so, the idea of ​​a generalized, or local, bellowing is gaining ground within the executive.

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"Reconfinement" ... this word was taboo a few days ago, it now comes back with insistence in the corridors of the executive.

"The curfew was essential, but I fear that it is not enough to lower the pressure", worries a minister with Europe 1. "Let's be honest, the curfew is a pre-confinement ", admits another.

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"Consider much tougher measures"

Without directly mentioning this option, Jean Castex Thursday evening prepared the spirits for stronger measures.

"If we do not collectively succeed in curbing the epidemic, we will face a dramatic situation and we will have to consider much harsher measures. There is still time to avoid it, but we do not have much time left," warned the head of government during his press conference.

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Officially, the line always remains the same: "do everything to avoid generalized confinement".

But what about local re-containments?

"Anyway, the rest will depend on the speed of circulation of the virus, the effectiveness of the measures and the resistance of the hospital system", answers a close friend of Emmanuel Macron.

Clearly, it is the indicators that will decide.