In the spotlight: the poorest are the first to be affected by the coronavirus

Audio 03:31

Nantes in August 2020. REUTERS - Stephane Mahe

By: Johanne Burgell

8 min

Publicity

 If the health crisis spares no one, its social consequences obviously hit the underprivileged or modest backgrounds more severely.

 This is the observation made by

Liberation

in its editorial of the day.

“ 

RSA registration requests on the rise, influx of people claiming food aid, unpaid rents: when they have not already gone red, the lights are bright orange at best.

 "

On the second page of the daily, this headline: “ 

More sick, more precarious, the Covid cuts the poor

 ”.

“ 

The epidemiological situation has taken a more than worrying turn in certain regions of France.

 "

A general practitioner from the underprivileged sector of Montreynaud, north of Saint-Étienne, confirms: “ 

When many people live in small apartments, it is obvious that it spreads quickly.

And those in a tight economic situation are not necessarily going to stop working because otherwise they will lose too much money.

 "

Social inequalities cause an accumulation of aggravating factors.

As proof, " 

certain professions called

" essential "

in the context of the epidemic have high rates of overcrowding in their homes: cleaning staff, home help ... And double trouble, these professions were also more strongly exposed to the virus because they use public transport more often than executives to get to their workplace.

 "

The Loire department at the heart of the second wave

Mayors have therefore asked for help from the army.

La Croix

returns to this appeal launched Saturday by 21 mayors to the prefect of the Loire: “ 

They are asking for military medical reinforcements.

The hospitals of the department will not be able to cope alone with the influx of patients

 ”writes the daily.

Professor Éric Chaurin, from the CHU de Saint-Etienne, does not go all the way: "

 All age groups are concerned, especially those over 70, who risk serious forms of Covid-19.

And therefore to be hospitalized in the coming days.

 "

The Auvergne-Rhône Alpes regional health agency ensures that "

 the virus circulates more in high density areas

 ", especially among " 

precarious populations with large families who sometimes live in cramped housing

 ".

For his part, the mayor of Saint-Étienne, Gaël Perdriau, believes that " 

most of the clusters are found in universities or at workplaces

 ", and considers it unfair " 

to place the responsibility on people who are immigrants or in of poverty.

 "

Le

Monde

newspaper

highlights "

the difficult relaunch of social dialogue

"

In this context of health crisis, Prime Minister Jean Castex receives this Monday morning in Matignon, unions and employers as part of a social dialogue conference.

But

Le Monde

warns: " 

The health crisis and its devastating economic consequences with its share of social plans, should occupy a good part of the discussions.

 "

However, on the side of the unions, we remain on the same line: “ 

The abandonment of the reforms of unemployment insurance and pensions.

 "

Same story in the newspaper

Les Échos

 : “ 

A rich social agenda, perhaps too rich, with seventeen themes… Given the health and economic situation, the mountain risks giving birth to a mouse.

 "

Tense relations between France and Turkey

Le Figaro

sums up the facts: “ 

Paris recalled its ambassador to Ankara after Recep Tayyip Erdogan questioned the mental health of Emmanuel Macron.

The Turkish president was reacting to the words of his French counterpart who had promised that France would continue to defend the cartoons of Mohammed.

 "

And

Le Figaro

continues: “ 

Since he came to power, Emmanuel Macron has been worried about the entryism of Turkish religious Islam in France among Muslim communities.

Turkey controls half of the 300 imams seconded from foreign countries and is seeking to establish Turkish schools in France.

 "

The president's initiatives against political Islam have fueled the anger of the Turkish president,

 " adds

Le Figaro

.

Fighting against radical Islamism and its political project is more than ever an absolute priority

 " writes

La Charente Libre

in its editorial.

“ 

This fight cannot be waged without the French Muslims themselves being associated with it.

The emotion shown after the Conflans attack tends to show that they are ready for it

.

"

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • Newspaper

  • Society

  • Coronavirus