Extending or easing lockdown off? So is the government’s current brain-teaser as the second phase of the lockdown exit strategy is planned for December 15, 2020. This Monday December 7, 2020, one week before the deadline, health minister Olivier Véran let down hope for this date, estimating the “data are increasing, but will not reach 5,000-cases per day by December 15” as quoted by LCI and BFM TV.
More specifically, the Health Minister is said to have spoken about this possibility during a parliamentary liaison committee held on December 7, 2020 with the Prime Minister. During his presidential address on November 24, Emmanuel Macron detailed the different phases of the lockdown exit strategy, and goals – intrinsically linked to their proper implementation – it was necessary to go below “5,000 new cases per day” he said, including a total number of Covid patients in intensive care units between “2500 and 3000”.
So today, where is France at? And this is what sends shivers down the health authorities’ and the French’s spines: as of Sunday December 6, 2020 the Covid-19 epidemic keeps on being very harsh since 11,022 new cases were reported in 24 hours. Data that are almost not changing since this past November 28 (12,000 new cases). As for intensive care units, there is still a slight hope as the number of patients hospitalized in intensive care units following their Covid-19 infection totaled 3,210.
