French President to address the nation at 8pm this evening on the coronavirus outbreak

French President to address the nation at 8pm this evening on the coronavirus outbreak - French President Emmanuel Macron is currently meeting with the Defense and Security council devoted to the coronavirus, ahead of his television intervention this evening at 8pm.

Emmanuel Macron is meeting with the Defense and Security Council devoted to the coronavirus, accompanied by various ministers concerned by this health crisis. According to the Élysée Palace, the Head of State wishes to refine on his speech scheduled for this Thursday evening at 8 p.m. The President of the Republic wishes to reconsolidate the scientific evidence he has ahead of his speech adding that. "The decisions taken will be based on scientific expertise”.

The speech will be broadcast on all channels and will be devoted to the health crisis of the Covid-19 coronavirus that several countries are currently going through, including France.

In France since January 24, several major outbreaks have been detected in the Oise, Haut-Rhin and Morbihan regions. Several containment measures have already been taken in these regions, such as the closure of certain schools.

Throughout France, many sporting, cultural or political events have also been postponed or canceled. Faced with this unprecedented situation, the government is trying to stop the spread of the virus, in order to avoid congestion in the hospital system, in particular by prohibiting gatherings of more than 1,000 people in confined spaces.

Some voices however, have denounced, the media and political excitement that this health crisis is causing.

One French doctor and surgeon and a familiar face on French television, as he has presented a regular medical programme for several years, Michel Cymes, has expressed his annoyance with what he described as the  “daily count of the number of cases being published by the official authorities". Adding that "This count is not dramatic but there is a problem of semantics”. He also criticised the use of word “stage 3” and “testing positive” suggesting “panic”. He finally added “I am a doctor, I am not a prophet, I do not know if tomorrow the virus will mutate, I don't know if tomorrow there will be a terrible epidemic. It’s not the flu, it’s not a cold. It’s a form of flu that is a little more pronounced than the flu but it's still a viral disease like we have every year,".