The weight of the images. That, for example, of the Parisian market of Aligre, crowded on this Sunday, March 15 in the morning. Strollers strolling, street vendors … As if the previous evening, the government had not solemnly asked everyone to limit “to the essential” their outings due to the progression of the coronavirus. “This is why we must go even further in confinement and thus send a clear message to the population. The more stringent the measures, the weaker the epidemic will be, ”insists Marie-Paule Kieny, the virologist and research director at Inserm who went green to set an example.
Since Sunday, the voice of many doctors is rising in this direction: we will not brake the Covid-19 until clear provisions are implemented. Because the coronavirus, which owes its name to its head crowned with thorns, intends to be king in France. This Sunday, there are now 5,423 cases in France and 127 deaths, 29 more than Saturday, according to figures from Public Health France. Our Italian neighbors mourn 368 new deaths. Their disastrous record in one day. Europe has become the epicenter of the epidemic from China.
Non-immediate effects
After the closure of schools and universities from Monday, announced Thursday, the ban on gatherings of more than a hundred people on Friday, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced on Saturday the closure of all bars, cafes, restaurants and cinemas. Did he trust a report by scientists who advise the Elysée? According to one of their simulations, which our colleagues in the World obtained, in “the absence of radical measures of prevention and social distancing”, the worst-case scenario was envisaged: “the epidemic of Covid-19 could provoke, in France, up to 300,000 to 500,000 dead, “writes the newspaper, noting that this is the most extreme of models, carried out before the implementation of the measures.
VIDEO. Crowded parks in Paris despite containment measures
But what is the use of confinement? “To slow down the pandemic progression, to spread the use of our medical capacities which are not made for such an explosion of cases and to reduce the rate of contamination”, explained to us this Saturday Alain Bauer, specialist in crisis management. With immediate effects? No, replies Jean-Stéphane Dhersin, expert in epidemic modeling: “The French say to themselves: O n constrains us, so we need results. However, in the coming days, cases will continue to increase rapidly. It makes sense. The effects of the measures will be felt, but not for one, or even two weeks. You have to be patient. “
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