Paris (AFP)
Emmanuel Macron will present on Friday "the prospects" of "gradual exit" from the restrictive measures imposed against the Covid-19, Jean Castex announced on Wednesday.
At the end of the Council of Ministers, the head of government specified that this exit would be "progressive as the vaccination campaign unfolds".
He did not specify the format of the intervention of the head of state, who had delivered a speech on March 31 to announce new restrictions.
Mr. Macron outlined on Monday several avenues of deconfinement for the coming weeks, stressing that the lifting of restrictions would be done "very slowly", especially for restaurants or cultural places.
"The epidemic situation continues to improve at a steady pace: the number of daily cases has increased from 38,000 cases per week at the peak of this third wave to 26,200 very precisely over the last seven days", explained Jean Castex.
The reproduction rate (R) of the virus, a key indicator corresponding to the number of people infected for a single patient, fell to 0.89 on Tuesday, he said.
"This means that the level of circulation remains high" but that "we see a downward trend, which is slower than in November" and whose impact on hospitalizations "is still only very timidly reflected in the 'evolution in the number of patients in intensive care, ”he summarized.
According to him, the vaccination campaign "is progressing at a very good pace with 469,000 people vaccinated on the day yesterday alone."
"The goal of reaching 15 million people first-vaccinated by the end of this week and 20 million in mid-May is very much within our reach", he added, specifying that "60% of people over 60 will have been vaccinated for the first injection" Wednesday evening.
During the Council of Ministers, the government examined the bill to exit the state of health emergency on June 2, which however allows it to retain powers until October 31 on the movement of people or the closure. stores if sanitary conditions so require.
From June, "the situation (...) will no longer be that of a state of health emergency" but the future law "should enable us to respond to a duty of health vigilance" by giving "the capacity to a rapid reaction in the event of a new acceleration of the epidemic, either at the level of the country, or that of a particular territory ", explained Jean Castex.
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