The president of the scientific council that advises the French government on the virus, Dr. Jean-François Delfraissy, has said that the nation the coronavirus is spreading rapidly across the country, spurring outbreaks in major cities around France, the Associated Press reports.
The statement echoes a similar statement by White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who said yesterday, “We are not going to control the pandemic,” effectively announcing the Trump Administration’s surrender.
France passed one million confirmed cases last week, with the government declaring a state of emergency and reimplementing public health guidelines throughout the country and strict regulations in eight major metropolitan areas.
“There probably are more than 50,000 new cases every day. Our estimate at the Scientific Council is closer to 100,000 – twice as many,” Delfraissy told RTL radio. “Between those who aren’t tested and asymptomatic patients, we’re close to that number of cases. This means the virus is spreading extremely fast.”
“We lost control of the epidemic but that doesn’t date from yesterday,” Dr. Eric Caumes, head of the infections and tropical diseases department at Paris’ Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital, said on broadcaster Franceinfo. “We lost control of the epidemic several weeks ago already.”