In the aftermath of a resounding quack for the majority and heated debates, the deputies restored the calendar of the state of health emergency on Wednesday, November 4, allowing the government to take exceptional measures in the face of the Covid pandemic. 19 until February 16.

The whole text was adopted at the beginning of the evening by 272 votes against 108, at the end of often heated debates.

It must be examined Thursday by the Senate, then come back for final adoption after a final reading at the Palais-Bourbon on Saturday.

At the end of a second deliberation on article 1 of the bill, the government and its majority wiped out two opposition amendments voted on Tuesday evening, to everyone's surprise.

This card of the rules of the Assembly, shot down by the government to erase the snub wiped the day before, was hardly in doubt, but has earned the majority a new line of reproach from the oppositions. 

The deputies of the various oppositions had succeeded Tuesday evening in passing an amendment setting the deadline for this state of emergency on December 14 instead of February 16, to the chagrin of the government and its majority caught off guard.

Wednesday's vote restored the original schedule.

The lack of majority deputies in the face of better mobilized oppositions was cited to explain the surprise votes on Tuesday evening.

A possible hardening of measures

During this time, the epidemic continues to progress in France.

More than 4,000 Covid-19 patients are now in intensive care or intensive care, with a continuous increase in the number of admissions to these services over 24 hours, according to figures from Public Health France published on Wednesday.

The number of people in intensive care stood at 4,080, whereas it was still only 3,869 the day before.

The number of new admissions in intensive care, intensive care and continuing care since Tuesday has also crossed a milestone, to 540. This figure is of the order of those recorded at the height of the first wave of the Covid epidemic. 19, late March and early April. 

The number of resuscitation beds, already raised from 5,100 to 5,800 after the first epidemic wave, reached 6,400 at the start of the week.

It should soon exceed 7,000, with a next level established at 10,500, Secretary of State for Children, Adrien Taquet told the Senate on Wednesday.

A Defense Council chaired by Emmanuel Macron debated on Wednesday a possible tightening of measures to fight against the progression of the epidemic. 

The president of the Hospital Federation of France, Frédéric Valletoux, called for a tightening of the screw "if the figures do not improve [have] ent".

With Reuters and AFP

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