- Since Tuesday, the government has ordered the confinement of the French to contain the coronavirus epidemic which has killed at least 372 people, according to the latest report.
- Many French violate the obligation of isolation and do not hesitate to go out on the streets, at the risk of being punished with a fine of 135 euros.
- Experts say the government will have to tighten and extend this confinement to slow the epidemic and limit the number of victims.
Right now, Emmanuel Macron probably has something else to do than hang out on Twitter. But, does he really need that to know that some French people are doing anything in the face of the coronavirus epidemic? Like this woman who finds it "crappy" to stay confined and prefers to sunbathe on the beach in Nice (Alpes-Maritimes). Or this Sunday sportsman who puts the patience of the Ministry of Sports to the test by asking for advice to go jogging in Vienna. Not to mention those who continue to shop in Belleville as if nothing had happened…
Doctors may parade every evening on television, messages may appear in capitals: the French do not seem to have understood that they had to stay at home to save lives. Including theirs ... "The best way to fight the Covid-19 is to stay at home," reiterated Christophe Castaner this Friday, before announcing tighter control of containment measures this weekend.
These measures, the French will have to get used to. This Friday morning, government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye hinted that the confinement would "probably" be extended. "It could last six weeks. Or even more… ”, already believes Yazdan Yazdanpanah, director of infectious diseases at Inserm.
"Every day that passes is a day of lost ..."
Difficult to believe that the French will be able to hold on while Spring is just coming out ... "When I see the images of strollers in the parks and of people picnicking, this carefree attitude despairs me ...", says Philippe Klein. Based in Wuhan (China), this doctor is undoubtedly one of the best placed to analyze the situation after observing sixty days of confinement. "At first, the Chinese were allowed to go out a bit ... But the epidemic continued to escalate," he says. So drastic measures were taken. That's what you should do ! I know that every day that goes by is a day lost in the fight against the epidemic. And that we will pay it! "
#BONNENOUVELLE First time today in #Wuhan there has been no case of # COVID19 detected! @arnauldmiguet @ infofrance2 @francetvchine @ France2tv pic.twitter.com/yWH9dIiyFC
- Gael Caron (@ GaelC21) March 19, 2020A specialist in circumventing the rules, will the French remain resistant to confinement until the number of dead really explodes? No, if one believes Frédéric Bizard, economist and teacher at Sciences Po specializing in health policies: “In the vast majority, the French respect isolation. But in any society, there is a deviant minority. And this is the one we see first… "
The latest shots released by news agencies prove him right. We see Milanese who continue to do their shopping without masks while at the same time, just sixty kilometers away, the coffins pile up in Bergamo. And hundreds of Australians agglutinated again Wednesday on Bondi Beach, just near Sydney, when the country has just closed its borders…
Cronache di una città allo stremo: il grido di Bergamo (oltre 4.500 infetti) che vuole ... https://t.co/t9agv2uXyP pic.twitter.com/EvIu69lA4s
- Corriere della Sera (@Corriere) March 19, 2020The precedents of Sras and H1N1
"The French problem is first of all a problem of anticipation," asserts Frédéric Bizard. And lack of equipment. We confine people because we are unable to protect them. And the economist to cite the case of Singapore, among other examples, where each inhabitant is systematically screened and where masks are not lacking. "Quite simply because the countries of Asia experienced SARS in 2003 and they understood that it was necessary to develop strategies in case ..."
In France, there was "a state stock of 1 billion surgical masks and 600 million FFP2 masks," said Olivier Véran, the Minister of Health, this Thursday evening. Before specifying that this equipment was removed from stock in 2011 and 2013…
In China, neighborhood committees supply the inhabitants
Philippe Klein, for his part, prefers to focus on China's ability to supply its inhabitants during the confinement. “As we can see, in France, people have the right to go out to buy food. Here, during confinement, food was managed by neighborhood committees which toured the inhabitants. It is at this price that the epidemic could finally be slowed down… ”
And that is why the fear of the Chinese authorities is today to see the virus come back through a home ... outside the country. France, it is not yet at all at this stage. She is slowly considering tightening the measures to force people to stay truly locked up. An example ? The Paris Prefect of Police has just announced the closure of all the parks and waterways on the banks, the main route for walking in the capital when the sunny days arrive. History that everyone understands that the time is no longer for the ride.
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