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A video was leaked showing French President Emmanuel Macron caught in a heated row with a doctor moments before he is seen posing for the cameras and applauding with healthcare professionals.
The Elysee Palace shared images of the applause, while a health workers union shared a second video showing the heated exchange due to lack of resources and personnel.
The video, taken on April 9, was filmed days before Macron addressed a record-breaking television audience of 36.7 million viewers last night to apologize for the government’s failure to address the coronavirus crisis.
During the speech, he admitted that “mistakes” were made and announced that the period of isolation in France would last until May 11. The coronavirus has now claimed 14,393 lives in France.
In an indication of how many people are watching the main shows during the current blockade, the head of state raised his concerns to an additional 13 million people who saw France’s first victory at the soccer World Cup in 1998.
French President Emmanuel Macron was caught in a heated row with a doctor in front of his colleagues. The doctor, who is with her colleagues on a balcony (left), can be heard talking to Macron on the ground floor, angry at the lack of resources and staff. Facing several other doctors and nurses, standing with his arms crossed, Macron argues with the doctor and says he empathizes with his position.
After Macron’s visit to the Kremlin-Bicetre hospital in Paris, the Elysee Palace released a single video showing a nurse asking the president, “ Can we applaud each other like people do at 8 p.m.? ” Followed by long applause.
However, a second clip recorded at the meeting, during which the Elysee Palace is said to have banned filming and in which no journalists were present, has now been released showing that a fierce exchange preceded the applause.
In the second video, shared by the hospital workers union USAP-CGT (L’union syndicale CGT de l’Assistance Publique), Macron tells one of the workers: ‘What is certain is that we have not recovered for 15 years of hospital rate cuts, you’re right.
But then he added: “But I will not be responsible for anything that has been done before.”
The worker responds by saying, “You know, these jobs we do because they are a vocation,” and Macron says “I know.”
The worker continues saying: “We do them because we love people, we are in a public hospital.”
The President responds by saying, “I am the only one in my family who is not a caregiver, ma’am.”
However, the hospital worker goes on to say: ‘We caregivers are poor, and tomorrow we could be in bed too. And when the problem comes back to us, we wish we could help, but with a lack of resources and staff, we can’t. ”
Macron then responds by saying that ‘everyone will learn the lessons’ collectively.
A hospital employee told local media: ‘We had orders not to film anything or take photos. This video is truncated.
‘It does not show the ten-minute intervention of a care worker who questioned Emmanuel Macron.
‘He ended up asking the president if the hospital staff could applaud each other. At no time do we applaud Emmanuel Macron.
In an official video shared by the Elysee Palace, Macron is seen applauding doctors and nurses. However, the official video shows no signs of Macron’s heated discussion with the doctor.
Isabelle Bernard, nurse and secretary of the CGT (Workers ‘Union) of the Kremlin-Bicetre hospital, told Le Parisien:’ It certainly was not Macron whom we applauded for his invitation.
‘Our colleague came out on the floor in a visceral way to talk about the caregivers’ working conditions and the problems we face.
“She told the president that we had been calling him for a long time, that we had been on strike for months and that he had never responded.”
“That it was a shame it took thousands of deaths to worry about medical care.”
In reaction to the leaked video, the Presidential Press Association (APP) in a statement disapproved of the President making visits across the country without journalists present.
An excerpt from the statement said the Elysee Palace had recently “prevented or interrupted journalists from taking pictures or making sounds during exchanges with the head of state.”
French President Emmanuel Macron apologized for his government “not being prepared enough” for the coronavirus crisis, as it extended the blockade until May 11 against 36.7 million
Yesterday, in a televised speech to a record audience of 36.7 million viewers, by far the largest television audience in his country’s history, Macron admitted serious failures in France’s battle with the coronavirus.
Industry figures show that President Macron attracted a 94 percent audience share when he appeared on multiple channels, including TF1 and M6, shortly after 8 p.m. Monday to apologize for his government “is not ready enough” for the crisis.
The figure of 36.7 million is also four million more than the British record for a television audience: 32.3 million for England’s victory in the July 1966 soccer World Cup against West Germany.
The United States Super Bowl regularly draws more than 110 million viewers, while the most watched television broadcast in history showed the moon landing on July 20, 1969.
An estimated 650 million people, a fifth of the world’s population at the time, watched the historic event.
Macron also used his address at the Elysee Palace in Paris to say that the Coronavirus restrictions that started on March 17 will apply at least until May 11.
“Therefore, we must continue our efforts and continue to apply the rules,” he said.
‘The more they are respected, the more lives will be saved. That is why the strictest confinement must continue until Monday, May 11.
Macron acknowledged that there had been problems with everything from the supply of masks to the protective gel, and that health workers “did not have enough protective equipment.”
“Mistakes were made,” he said. Were we sufficiently prepared? Obviously not, nobody is prepared for a crisis of this magnitude.
Macron said doctors would be in a position to screen anyone with symptoms before May 11.
The latest death toll from the coronavirus epidemic in France, including those who have died in nursing homes, is now 14,967, an increase of 574 in 24 hours.
Warning that the new date may not mean a guaranteed withdrawal of the measures, Macron said: ‘May 11 will only be possible if we continue to be civically responsible by respecting the rules and if the spread of the virus has actually continued to slow down. ‘
Referring to closed educational establishments, Mr. Macron said: ‘Starting May 11, we will gradually reopen nurseries, schools, colleges and high schools. Classes will not resume physically until the summer.
“The government, in consultation with the government, will have established special rules to organize time differently, to protect our teachers and our children with the equipment used for higher education students.”
Macron said that the borders with other countries will remain closed until the crisis is resolved.
Yesterday’s death toll of 561 marked a third consecutive day of decline, although France’s figures have been highly erratic, with nursing home data only partially included.
This graph shows the number of coronavirus cases added to the official French government account each day. Yesterday there were 1,613 new cases
This table shows the daily number of deaths. The figures appear to have skyrocketed in the past few days since France began including partial data on nursing homes.
France reported 310 new hospital deaths yesterday in the last 24 hours, compared with 345 the previous day.
The total number of victims of the coronavirus epidemic, including those who have died in nursing homes, now stands at 14,393, the health ministry said.
And for the fourth consecutive day, the number of patients in intensive care decreased with 35 fewer patients, making a total of 6,845 people who need such treatment.
The total number of cases increased just 1,613 between the figures on Saturday and the last update on Sunday, with a total of 93,790 to 95,403.
But officials have warned that the situation remains dire, especially in the Ile-de-France region near Paris, with no quick return to normal in sight.
The confinement has confined the French to their homes for nearly a month, with only brief trips allowed outside for shopping and other essential errands.
Macron did not issue resolutions on specific issues, such as whether the use of masks in public should be generalized, or on tracing and testing.
