LIVE – Prolonged confinement, exceptional aid, reopening of schools … Emmanuel Macron multiplies the announcements

EMMANUEL MACRON’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

If the situation is improving, the President of the Republic considered that “nothing is for granted”, and therefore announced a series of measures to fight against the coronavirus:

– An extension of confinement until May 11;

– The gradual reopening of crèches, schools and lycées from May 11, but no courses in higher education “before summer”;

– Bars and restaurants which will remain closed;

– Authorized visits for people at the end of their life;

– “Exceptional help” for modest families and students;

– The closing of borders until further notice with non-European countries;

– A “general public” mask made available to “each French person” and which could “become systematic” in certain situations;

– A test available for “everyone with symptoms”, starting May 11.

“We will eventually prevail but we will have several months to live with the virus,” summed up the head of state.

MASKS

While Emmanuel Macron announced that the state would allow, in mid-May, each French to get a “general public mask”, because “we have multiplied by five the production of masks”, what is it on the ground?

According to Gérald Heuliez, director of the company Kolmi-Hopen which produces masks, this challenge has indeed been met. Its Angers factory will produce “three million masks” in June, ten times more than before the health crisis.

AFTER

“I will come back to you to talk about this after.” This was launched by the President of the Republic at the end of his speech. “Our whole country is dependent on women and men whom our economies recognize and remunerate so poorly. Social distinctions can only be based on common utility.”

“Let’s know how to reinvent ourselves, me first.” Pleading a “long-term strategy”, “carbon sobriety” and “resilience”, Emmanuel Macron said he saw this crisis as a “chance”. The government will present within 15 days a “post-May 11 plan”. “We will have better days and we will find happy days.”

TREATMENT

“All options are explored” to find a treatment, says Emmanuel Macron. “Our country has carried out the most clinical trials”, launched the President of the Republic and “no track is and will not be neglected, I commit myself”.

DECONFINEMENT

The state will allow, in mid-May, each French to get a “general public mask”, announces the President of the Republic. And its use may become “systematic” in certain situations, such as transport, and certain professions.

Borders with non-European countries will remain closed “until further notice”.

DECONFINEMENT

A new organization will be put in place from May 11, announces Emmanuel Macron. And this in particular by making tests “for anyone with a symptom”.

DECONFINEMENT

If nurseries, schools, colleges and high schools “will open gradually” on 11 May, students in higher education will not go to classes “until the summer”, announced the head of state. Public places, such as restaurants, cafes, hotels, will also remain closed “at this stage”. The major festivals will not be held, “at least until mid-July next”.

The most fragile must remain confined.

ECONOMIC AID

The President of the Republic asked the government to “increase and simplify aid”. “I wish that the banks could shift all the maturities much more massively, and the insurances must also be there.”

Emmanuel Macron also announced a “specific plan for certain sectors that are permanently affected, with charge cancellation”. And the payment “without delay” of “exceptional” aid to the most modest families with children and to the most precarious students.

EMMANUEL MACRON

Announcing the confinement “until Monday, May 11”, “the beginning of a new stage”, the president of the republic stressed that this would only be possible if “we continue to be civic, responsible and to respect the rules. ” “For the next four weeks, the rules will have to continue to be respected, they are only showing their effectiveness and must be fully applied.”

EMMANUEL MACRON

The head of state said that France was “not sufficiently prepared” for the pandemic. “Like all the countries of the world, we lacked gloves, gloves, hydroalcoholic gel …”. However “thanks to the efforts”, of the French, “we have multiplied by five the production of masks”.

If he confides that there have been “failures, unnecessary procedures, and weaknesses”, Emmanuel Macron also hails “successes” in recent weeks, such as the proliferation of hospital lilies or distance education . “We have innovated, dared, acted.”

REWARD

The Ukrainian president has promised $ 1 million to the country’s scientists who will succeed in developing a vaccine against the coronavirus, his spokesman said on Monday.

Volodymyr Zelensky estimates that this sum represents “a good encouragement if we manage to find a drug saving hundreds of thousands of lives”.

INTER-MINISTERIAL MEETING

According to our information, Edouard Philippe did convene an inter-ministerial meeting before the President’s speech in order to “inform them of the announcements” to come.

“NO DEATH” IN BELARUS

In Belarus, which is a UFO in Europe, no one died of the coronavirus, reaffirms its president, Alexander Lukashenko, despite the 29 deaths officially counted and the calls of the WHO to take firm measures to stem the epidemic . “People are afraid, so I want to tell them the following thing: in our country, not a single person died of the coronavirus. Not a single one!”, He asserted, according to a transcript of his words during of an official meeting published on the website of the Belarusian presidency.

Statements that contrast with the government’s own statistics which show 2,929 cases of contamination and 29 deaths and with WHO experts, who warned the Belarusian authorities that the epidemic was “rapidly increasing” in the country.

“PARTIAL” CONFINEMENT

In an interview published in Le Figaro, the president of the Resuscitation Society calls for “partial deconfinement”. A few hours before the President’s speech, Professor Éric Maury advised him to “let go of the ballast”. Because if the “initial containment decision was completely justified”, the president of the SRLF now believes that economic life must resume. “Why could we not consider, for people who absolutely need to work, to deconfine them, by forcing them to wear a mask to protect themselves?”, He therefore advances in the pages of the daily.

16,000 MOROCCANS BLOCKED ABROAD

Thousands of Moroccans stranded abroad are multiplying the calls for help, with open letters to the highest authorities and social media campaigns. According to the local press, there are more than 16,000 tourists, students or businessmen in this situation, with large contingents in France, Turkey and Spain. In a petition addressed to the Moroccan government and signed by more than 25,000 people, some therefore warn of their “increasingly precarious situations with the increase in restrictions imposed by the pandemic”.

The Moroccan consular services have announced that they have set up “support units”, and have paid for accommodation costs for some. But no repatriation announcement has been made, the priority of the Moroccan authorities so far being to limit the risk of contagion, according to information obtained by AFP from a diplomatic source.

11 MILLION MASKS ARRIVE IN NANTES

A plane carrying eleven million masks landed on Monday in Nantes as part of the “airlift” between China and France. “An Antonov with eleven million masks landed around 7:00 am” at Nantes airport, where a dozen semi-trailers were present to transport them, the Loire-Atlantique prefecture told AFP.

“We have just received 1.2 million surgical masks intended for our hospitals and health centers. The mobilization of the Region alongside our health personnel continues,” said on Twitter the president of the Pays de Loire region Christelle Morance (LR).

ONLINE DENUNCIATIONS

In New York, the city has put a platform online to report violations of barrier measures. On this site, the public can report “a business or trade that must be closed”, a business that “does not meet the necessary restrictions”, or a link of “overcrowding”.

INTERNATIONAL HELP

South Korea to send 600,000 test kits to the United States, Foreign Minister said in an interview with France 24. As a reminder, the country’s ability to massively test its population seems to have largely contributed to its success in the fight against the pandemic.

200 SCHOOL SCHOOLS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Nearly 200 schools were robbed, and sometimes burned, during the first 17 days of confinement in South Africa, announced “horrified”, the Minister of Education, Angie Motshekga. “It is extremely disappointing to see criminals destroying the infrastructure intended to provide decent spaces for learning and teaching,” she said in a statement.

RUSSIA

While – after months of denial – the Moscow authorities announced Friday a slew of bad news, it is Putin’s turn to admit failures. The Russian president said the country was experiencing “shortages” of protective equipment for medical personnel. An announcement in total contradiction with the images at the beginning of the month. A Russian plane loaded with humanitarian aid was sent to New York on April 1.

“I know that (these means) are not always sufficient. So, of course, additional measures are needed to fill these shortages,” said Vladimir Putin, during a videoconference meeting, without giving any indication on the extent of the shortages.

LOCATION POINT: UNITED KINGDOM

The UK records an additional 717 deaths in 24 hours, bringing the total number of people who died in hospital to 11,329, according to the Department of Health.

Just over 14,500 more people were tested for Covid-19 in 24 hours, the ministry said, bringing the total infected with the disease to 88,621 since the epidemic began.

WHAT RELAXATION IN GERMANY?

In detail, the Leopoldina Academy recommends several tracks for a deconfinement. Starting with the reopening “as quickly as possible” of schools closed for the most part since March 16. But also a return to normal for shops, restaurants and administrations, provided, however, that “barrier gestures”, in particular regular hand washing and respect for social distancing, are scrupulously respected.

The president of the Leopoldina Academy, Gerald Haug, nevertheless warned that this relaxation could only take place with certain obligations. “Every citizen must in the future have this type of mouth and nose protection on him and wear it whenever the rules of social distancing can not be respected,” he said in Der Spiegel. “We must at all costs avoid a second wave of infections.”

Finally, this report also recommends the “little by little” resumption of cultural or sporting events.