Paris (AFP)
Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that he was "right not to reconfine France" at the end of January, refusing any "mea culpa" despite the epidemic resurgence of Covid-19 currently observed.
"I can tell you: we were right not to reconfine France at the end of January because there was not the explosion which was foreseen by all the models", pleaded the chief. of the State in a press conference at the Elysee Palace at the end of a European summit by videoconference.
"I can tell you that I have no mea culpa to do, no remorse, no failure," he insisted, while criticism is increasing in the face of a sharp deterioration in the health situation in France .
Returning to the reasons which guided his decision, Mr. Macron admitted that there was "a risk" because "the virus was running".
"But we considered that with the curfew measures taken, the braking measures, we could cope without there being an outbreak and that is what happened," he said. he underlined, adding that he had taken "into account several factors", including "mental health", "the tension and the difficulties for our young people" or "our educational priority".
"It is each time a scale that we hold," he said.
But the head of state observed that there was then "an inflection" at the beginning of March with an "acceleration" of the epidemic attributed to the increased spread of the English variant.
This has therefore led the government to order containment measures in around twenty departments now, including all of Ile-de-France and Hauts-de-France.
"In my eyes, there is no taboo, each time you have to have the most appropriate response", explained Mr. Macron who said "take all the necessary measures in due time".
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