Are the latest measures paying off? Early April, Health Minister Olivier Véran said the third wave was soon to peak. For the past couple of days, indicators seem to stabilize in France and even begin to decline in some territories, including Île-de-France.
Even though the situation still looks fragile as schools are about to reopen, these data are encouraging. In an interview with Télégramme released this Monday April 19, 2021, the Health Minster confirms the peak has passed – as expected in mid-April. The declining trend is confirmed this Thursday April 22. During the government press brief, Prime Minister Jean Castex states the epidmeic has been declining for the past 10 days, including a 17% decrease in new Covid cases.
He also says the hospitals' occupancy rate and the number of new ICU admissions has been stable. It seems the epidemic has reached a high plateau for the past couple of days. A relative but real improvement, he concludes.
The next challenge will be lifting lockdown. The entire country has been placed in soft lockdown since the beginning of the month including closure of non-necessary stores, but the possibility to go out in a 10km-radius without derogatory trip certificate. As for curfew, it is still on: this is a measure in addition to lockdown. Lifting this restriction might not be related to exiting lockdown.
