"Stay at home!": France under house arrest facing the coronavirus

The French began Tuesday confinement of at least two weeks, unprecedented in the history of the country, to try, after Italy or Spain and like Belgium now, to stem the epidemic of coronavirus compared to a " war "to be fought by Emmanuel Macron.

The entire population must henceforth remain cloistered under penalty of fines, except for food, treatment or work, in particular health personnel and the police.

These extreme measures aim to prevent the spread of contamination and the saturation of the emergency services: Tuesday evening, 699 patients in serious condition were in intensive care (against 400 Sunday) out of a total of 2,579 hospitalized patients, according to the assessment of the General Directorate of Health (DGS).

The director, Jérôme Salomon, announced a total of 175 deaths (27 more than the day before) and 7,730 people tested positive (1,000 new cases in 24 hours): "We are all potentially carriers," he insisted. stressing the need to avoid contact to avoid spreading the virus.

After a special Council of Ministers, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner called on the French to apply "a slogan that saves lives: stay at home". He also announced the deployment of 100,000 police and gendarmes to enforce the order.

The country thus rocked, at midday sharp, in a new phase for it, accompanied by drastic measures like the suspension of the visiting rooms in the prisons, decreed at midday or the closure of the Catholic sanctuary of Lourdes, "for the first time of its history ".

Even Euro football has been postponed for a year, to 2021.

August 15 in Paris

"We are at war" warned the head of state Monday evening, to emphasize the gravity of the situation.

If the morning was still agitated in the supermarkets and the stations of the big cities, abandoned by all those which could before the reduction in the number of trains in circulation, the streets of the principal metropolises were suddenly plunged in silence with the approach of the fateful hour.

At 2:00 p.m., Paris presented its face of August 15, deserted and silent. Only bakeries, pharmacies, supermarkets and convenience stores still had light - but few checkout customers.

Faced with the exponential spread of the coronavirus, all those who circulate must be "able to justify their movement", warned Mr. Castaner, at the risk of taking a fine.

The police presence, still discreet in the center of the capital, was reported elsewhere: in Clamecy, in Nièvre, a resident reported to AFP "gendarmes at all crossroads".

In a Parisian suburb, a young couple was reprimanded for having taken out their two toddlers "around the block".

Everywhere the parks and gardens have closed their gates so as not to tempt families to ventilate the confined kids there.

Shortly before noon, the guardian of the Hautmont park in Mouvaux (North) thus closed the playground: "This morning again, there were about fifteen children. The slide is made of metal, we know that the virus remains a long time on this matter. People have to understand. "

The Medicines Agency announced Tuesday restrictions on the sale of paracetamol, recommended to combat the symptoms of infection: as of Wednesday only one box per customer in pharmacies, two in case of illness and the sale will be suspended online.

The French federation of the pharmaceutical industry (Leem) has however affirmed that there is "no shortage" to date.

"Very tense" situation

"We left on at least two weeks of collective confinement, we know that this is a period that is necessary to block the circulation of the virus" said the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, ready to extend the measure.

Containment must spare hospitals: the situation is "very tense" in certain regions such as the Great East, recognized Mr. Véran where the deployment of a military hospital is planned in Alsace, with the transfer, by the army, of patients to other sites.

Prof. Salomon recalled that "masks are rare commodities, precious goods" intended only for carers: "Cycling with a mask makes no sense", similarly "wearing gloves", he said. insisted.

The State is currently "massively unblocking strategic stocks" to serve as a priority the "large teaching hospitals, especially those in the areas" most affected.

Expected recession

Given this state of "war", all reforms, including that of pensions, very controversial, are "suspended". But "Parliament will not stop," guaranteed Richard Ferrand, the president of the National Assembly.

The deputies and the Senate will resume their work on Thursday in "restricted format" to examine the emergency texts facing the epidemic.

With a country at a standstill and a strongly shaken global economy, the recession is looming: the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, who expects a fall of 1% of the GDP this year, announced the mobilization "immediate "of 45 billion euros - notably through the deferral of payment of corporate tax and social charges.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe did not exclude nationalizations on Tuesday and assured that the State was ready to "take responsibility" to support Air France ".

On the other hand, "prohibiting to dismiss, I do not believe that we arrive there", he estimated.

He also warned that France could ban British nationals from its territory if their national authorities did not in turn adopt containment measures to stem the epidemic.

Finally, Tuesday at 8:00 p.m., following a call via social networks, Parisians from several neighborhoods went to the windows to applaud the caregivers, according to participants who plan to repeat the operation every evening, as in Spain.