Emmanuel Macron has been caught on camera in a heated row with a medic just moments before he took part in a public appearance with healt...
Emmanuel Macron has been caught on camera in a heated row with a medic just moments before he took part in a public appearance with health professionals.
Footage of the French President applauding alongside medical staff was shared by the Elysee Palace before a second video showing the heated exchange over a lack of resources and staff was shared by a healthcare workers union.
The video, taken on April 9, was filmed days before Macron addressed a record television audience of 36.7 million viewers last night to apologise for the government's failings in tackling the coronavirus crisis.
During the TV address, he conceded that 'mistakes were made' and announced that the isolation period in France would be extended until May 11. The coronavirus has now now claimed 14,393 lives in France.
The head of state presented his concerns to 13 million more people than watched France's first football World Cup win in 1998, with an incredible 94 per cent audience share.
After Macron's visit to the Kremlin-Bicetre hospital in Paris, the Elysee Palace released a single video showing a nurse asking the President: 'Can we applaud each other as people do at 8pm?', which is followed by long applause.
However, a second clip recorded at the meeting, during which the Elysee Palace is said to have banned filming and at which no journalists were present, has now been released showing a fierce exchange preceded the applause.
In the second video, shared by the USAP-CGT (L'union syndicale CGT de l'Assistance Publique) hospital workers' union, Macron tells one of the workers: 'What's true is that we haven't made up for 15 years of hospital tariff cuts, you're right.'
But he then added: 'Maybe you haven't been wholly objective the whole time. But I won't take responsibility for anything that's been done before.'
The worker responds by saying: 'You know, these jobs, we do them because they are a calling,' with Macron saying 'I know'.
The worker goes on to say: 'We do them because we love people, we're in a public hospital.'
The president responds by saying: 'I'm the only one in my family who is not a caregiver, madam.'
However, the hospital worker continues by saying: 'We caregivers are poor, and tomorrow we could be in the beds too. And when the problem comes back to us, we wish we could help but with the lack of resources and staff, we can't.'
Macron then responds by saying they will 'all learn the lessons' collectively.
An employee from the hospital told local media: 'We had orders not to film anything or take photos. This video is truncated.
'It does not show the ten-minute intervention of a care worker who questioned Emmanuel Macron.
'She ended by asking the president if the hospital staff could applaud each other. At no time did we applaud Emmanuel Macron.'
Isabelle Bernard, a nurse and secretary of the CGT (Worker Union) of the Kremlin-Bicetre hospital, told Le Parisien: 'It was certainly not Macron that we applauded at his invitation.
'Our colleague took to the floor in a visceral way to talk about the working conditions of the carers and the problems we encounter.
'She told the president that we had been calling him for a long time, that we had been on strike for months and that he had never responded.
'That it was a pity that it took thousands of deaths for him to be concerned about healthcare.'
Reacting to the leaked video, the Presidential Press Association (APP) in a statement disapproved of the President making visits around the country without journalists present.
An excerpt from the statement said the Elysee Palace had recently 'prevented or interrupted journalists from taking pictures or making sounds during exchanges with the head of state.'
Yesterday, in a televised address to a record audience of 36.7 million viewers - by far the largest TV audience in his country's history - Macron admitted to severe failures in France's battle against Coronavirus.
Industry figures show that President Macron attracted a 94 per cent audience share when he appeared on multiple channels including TF1 and M6 shortly after 8pm on Monday to apologise for his government 'not being prepared enough' for the crisis.
The 36.7 million figure is also four million more than the British record for a TV audience – 32.3 million for England's July 1966 football World Cup victory against West Germany.
America's Super Bowl regularly attracts 110 million plus TV viewers, while the most watched television broadcast in history showed the Moon landing on July 20th 1969.
An estimated 650 million people – a fifth of the world's population at the time – watched the historic event.
Macron also used his address from the Elysée Palace in Paris to say that Coronavirus restrictions that started on March 17 would be enforced until at least May 11.
'We must therefore continue our efforts and continue to apply the rules,' he said.
'The more they are respected, the more lives will be saved. This is why the strictest confinement must still continue until Monday May 11.'
Mr Macron conceded that there had been problems with everything from the supply of masks to protective gel, and that health workers 'did not have enough protective equipment.'
'Mistakes were made,' he said. 'Were we sufficiently prepared? Obviously not – no one is prepared for a crisis of this magnitude.'
Mr Macron said medics would be in a position to test anyone with symptoms by May 11.
The latest death toll from the coronavirus epidemic in France, including those who have died in nursing homes, now stands at 14,967 – an increase of 574 in 24 hours.
Warning that the new date might not mean a guaranteed stand down from the measures, Mr Macron said: 'May 11 will only be possible if we continue to be responsible civic respecting the rules and that the spread of the virus has actually continued to slow.'
Referring to closed educational establishments, Mr Macron said: 'From May 11 we will gradually reopen crèches, schools, colleges and high schools. Classes will not resume physically until the summer.
'The government, in consultation with the government, will have set up special rules to organise time differently, to protect our teachers and our children with the equipment used for students in higher education.'
Mr Macron said borders with other countries would remain shut until the crisis was resolved.
Yesterday's death toll of 561 marked a third successive day of decline, although France's figures have been highly erratic, with data from nursing homes only partially included.
France yesterday reported 310 new deaths in hospital over the previous 24 hours, compared with 345 the previous day.
Its total toll from the coronavirus epidemic, including those who have died in nursing homes, now stands at 14,393, the health ministry said.
And for the fourth consecutive day in a row, the number of patients in intensive care fell with 35 fewer patients, making a total of 6,845 people needing such treatment.
The total number of cases rose by only 1,613 between Saturday's figures and the latest update on Sunday, bringing the total from 93,790 to 95,403.
But officials have warned that the situation remains serious - especially in the Ile-de-France region around Paris - with no rapid return to normal in sight.
The lockdown has confined the French to their homes for almost a month, with only brief trips allowed outside for shopping and other essential errands.
Macron did not issue rulings on specific questions, such as whether the wearing of masks in public should become generalised, or on tracing and testing.
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