A previously unknown virus, a confined ocean liner, a scientific, political and media whirlwind. The plot reminds you of something? It is, however, a fiction. Sylvain Ricard wrote it well before the coronavirus health crisis, and published it as a comic strip in January 2019. Either a year before the Covid-19, the Diamond Princess, and the confinement of the entire planet. "When you write a fiction you don't expect it to turn into reality ...", confides to the microphone of Europe 1 the author who has just published volume 2 of his comic strip at Delcourt editions.
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In its history, the virus that caused the epidemic escaped from a research laboratory. For the rest, the scenario reminds us in all points of our reality: a virulent virus, thousands of confined people and politicians who are fighting to manage the crisis. "You don't have to be particularly clever to understand that managing such a crisis is complicated, that it involves many different professions," explains the author.
Surprised by the scale of the crisis
A biologist by training, "passionate about virology", Sylvain Ricard was inspired to write about past crises. "There have already been several liners immobilized with thousands of people on board," he said. The magnitude of the coronavirus crisis, however, took him "like everyone else" by surprise.
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If the end of the epidemic seems to be looming in France, Sylvain Ricard is however resigned. "This is not the last health crisis, there are going to be others. It has been years since infectiologists have said so ... We are reducing the space between us and microorganisms with which we are not made to be in touch, "he said. Be careful, what Sylvain Ricard imagines can quickly become reality ...