Emmanuel Macron wonders about the epidermal situation. – Ian Langsdon / AP / SIPA
- The epidemic situation remains fragile in France, with around 30,000 contaminations per day, the number of patients in critical care around 5,900.
- However, the government maintains the gradual deconfinement schedule from the beginning of May, as outlined by Emmanuel Macron at the end of March.
- Even if the circulation of the virus continues at a high plateau, the executive is banking on the acceleration of vaccination to get out of the crisis.
Now is the time for deconfinement? “The peak of the third wave of the epidemic seems behind us”, with “a real drop in viral circulation for ten days”, welcomed this Thursday Jean Castex. France has also reached “the top of the wave of hospitalizations and we can hope for the start of a reflux within a few days”, added the Prime Minister, warning that the English variant would make this decline slower than during the two previous waves.
The calendar drawn up at the end of March by Emmanuel Macron therefore remains “the working basis” of the executive. The constraints of travel during the day will be “lifted” from May 3, while shops, cultural or sporting activities and terraces will reopen “around mid-May”, if the health situation allows, said the chef. of the government.
While the coronavirus remains at a high plateau and
some doctors keep the pressure on, Does this sketch of deconfinement prove that the government has detached itself from epidemic indicators?
“We can see the glass half full or half empty”
Because France has not finished with the virus, which has already killed more than 100,000 people in one year. The situation remains fragile, as Jean Castex and Olivier Véran recalled this Thursday, with around 30,000 contaminations per day, a total number of almost equivalent hospitalizations but down slightly, and a number of patients in critical care around 5,900. This last figure is far from the peak of the first wave in April 2020 (7,000), but slightly higher than that of the second. “The figures are higher than we would have hoped, admits a government adviser. There is a decrease in contamination, but hospitalizations are stagnating. In reality, you can see the glass half full or half empty ”.
“The measures taken have made it possible to relieve the hospital pressure, but we remain on a very high plateau, which will slowly sag. We must find a balance to move towards a gradual opening ”, advance Anne Genetet, Member of the French Abroad and spokesperson for the LREM group in the Assembly.
Epidemic indicators remain essential … for now
The government also confirmed this Thursday evening the reopening of nurseries and schools on April 26. Middle school and high school students will also resume classes on Monday, but remotely for a week. A decisive step. “It may seem early, but this risk is an assumed choice to preserve the education of the children, and their mental health. At each phase of deconfinement, we will assess the impact to know if we are still good on the decline of the virus, “said a government source. Jean Castex also announced that the deconfinement would be done in a gradual and territorialized manner.
While epidemic indicators therefore remain essential, they will no longer necessarily have the same importance in the weeks to come. Because the government is convinced that the objectives of 20 million vaccinated with at least one dose, scheduled for mid-May, and 30 million a month later, will be achieved. “When most people with severe forms are vaccinated, the number of infections may become less important. Even if the virus is circulating in a younger audience, we will be on the management of influenza, with some serious cases, which will be bearable by our hospital system, ”said a government advisor.
The executive therefore relies on the acceleration of vaccination to achieve deconfinement and fears that a more resistant variant will thwart this strategy. The goal of 5,000 cases per day, set in November by Emmanuel Macron, seems from another era.