Coronavirus: Macron is preparing for a “shocking announcement”

In addition to curfews, sector-by-sector specific restrictions, restrictions on public transportation, all options are on the table, the Elysee Palace said after Tuesday’s Defense Council meeting, while Prime Minister Jean Castex discussed with relevant government members the ideas for new restrictions that it announced Wednesday night. the president of the Republic.

According to press reports, the introduction of regional or local quarantine is not yet on the agenda, but Emmanuel Macron is considering tough measures such as a curfew in French Guiana since March.

According to BFM news coverage, although the issue has yet to be resolved, the presidential office is examining whether a curfew can be imposed in Paris starting at 8 p.m.

However, in terms of the effectiveness of the measure, it is questionable to what extent Parisians would accept it and what economic damage it would cause the early closure of restaurants, theaters, cinemas and the closure of public transport. It is also unclear by what means the authorities can enforce the curfew.

In any case, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer on commercial radio RTL ruled out that the head of state’s announcement would affect primary and secondary schools, but did not mention the universities that are currently the main epidemics.

“In primary and secondary schools, the situation is under control,” stressed the head of the ministry. Of the 60,000 public education institutions, only 24 are currently closed because at least three cases of coronavirus have been detected.

In addition to health issues, Emmanuel Macron will also announce new economic stimulus subsidies, while after the hospitality, tourism and culture sectors, more and more sectors are demanding state subsidies for their loss of income.

According to the presidential office, the objective of the speech of the heads of state is “to awaken the collective conscience” and to mark a clear calendar for the next months. At the same time, the main objective of the French government remains to avoid the general quarantine so as not to completely disrupt economic and social life and education.

“The French are at least as afraid of their health as they are of their job. That’s why we have to talk about both,” the presidential office said.

The government is primarily concerned that the number of infected people per 100,000 residents has risen sharply in the last week. In the nine large cities where it exceeded 250, bars, sports facilities, fitness rooms, discotheques and swimming pools were closed for days, precautions in restaurants were tightened, professional meetings, salons, fairs and congresses were lost, and in higher education institutions, the number of people present at the same time has been cut in half.

The government has also warned that the number of infected between 20 and 30 years per 100,000 inhabitants has reached 800.

Hospital congestion is a major concern in the metropolitan agglomeration, with half of the intensive care units in Paris treating coronavirus infections and a positive test rate of 17 percent. Nationally, the rate is 12 percent compared to 7 a week ago.

According to data from the Ministry of Health on Tuesday night, there have been 12,993 new infections in the last 24 hours, which is lower than the records of almost 27,000 on Saturday and more than 20,000 in the previous days, but still very high.

The death toll has risen 117 since Monday to 32,942. The number of people needing hospital treatment, including intensive care, is also increasing, but at a slower rate than the number of cases: there are currently almost 8,000 people hospitalized (5,689 admissions in the last week), 1,642 of whom are in intensive care. There was an example, but it is behind the peak of the first wave of the epidemic, when more than 7,200 people were connected to a ventilator.

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