An evening with friends (illustration) -
DUART DANIEL / SIPA
Despite the Covid-19 epidemic, students, tired of the crisis, continue to go to parties, juggling the rules.
"Stay at home, all week, I can not", confides one of those that "20 Minutes" questioned, in Montpellier.
While some participate in small parties, others venture into events bringing together thirty, forty or even 200 people.
And when the party is over, some sleep there, or others take the risk of coming home, in the middle of the night.
"We go through small alleys, and we watch out, as soon as we see a car, we hide a little," says a young man.
La bamboche is not quite finished.
Many students, tired of a crisis that has plagued their lives, no longer hesitate to defy the prohibitions and recommendations of the State, and to venture into small parties.
And big ones, sometimes.
20 Minutes
collected the testimonies of young people from Montpellier, who regularly attack apartments or houses, despite the Covid-19 epidemic.
“This virus has been going on for over a year.
Until recently, we respected the rules… But it's starting to take a long time, ”laments one of them, who participates“ from time to time ”in evenings“ with friends ”.
“We need to see each other,” he continues.
Especially since we don't know when it will all end.
In the evenings, we don't respect distance, we don't wear a mask… But we try to be more or less six.
"And if he has planned to see relatives, he will go" to be tested, "he says.
"Sure, no one in the evening gets up to say 'Everyone washed their hands well?
»», Smiles a student, who takes part in parties with «up to fifteen people».
" It's an evil for a good "
"I tell myself that there is worse, notes a young man.
There are clandestine parties, in houses that are turned into clubs!
On Snapchat, we see plenty of them.
"" At home, alone, all week, I can't, "continues another.
“The young people, for months, they were careful, they respected thoroughly, says a student.
They are fed up with it today.
They meet at parties so as not to go crazy, or fall into depression.
It's an evil for a good.
"" Watching series is good, testifies a young man.
But you can't stay at home all the time.
Sexuality also pushes young people to go out.
It is very difficult, otherwise, to meet people… ”
Another student, he confides to have participated, in his region of origin, "in a birthday with about 30 people".
“It was in a remote corner, in the countryside,” he notes.
Nothing really changed in those evenings.
Well, there are some things where I tell myself it's a little hot.
For example, we made a foosball table.
Everyone puts their hands up, it's not great.
But those who are afraid of Covid-19, they don't come… If it's a little selfish?
Probably yes.
A young woman also recently participated in an evening with "more than thirty people".
“There are eight cases of Covid-19,” she says.
We all had to get tested.
Luckily, she didn't catch him.
"We go through small alleys, we watch out"
One of her comrades, she, last weekend, crossed "in an evening in Montpellier about forty people" that they did not know, who met via social networks.
“There are a lot of underground parties,” she says.
We're all a little fed up.
Another young man confides that he recently found himself "in a rave, outdoors, near Marseille".
“There were about 200 people,” he notes.
But we are more afraid of the police than of the virus.
"
And when the party is over, there are two schools.
“Some sleep there, and wait until the morning to leave,” says a young woman.
Others brave the curfew, at the risk of taking a PV.
“We go through small alleys, and we watch out, as soon as we see a car, we hide a bit.
There is no tram, so we walk for 45 minutes, an hour, ”said a student.
“We see that there are not necessarily controls, says one of his comrades.
So we take the risk.
»Beware of 135 euros, however: after cutting the sound in a party, improvised in the basements of a student residence, on the night of March 30 to 31, the Montpellier police had warned that it was going to pursue the controls, "in the interest of all".
Our file on Covid-19
However, some resist the temptation of the bamboche.
"Restaurant owners have been forced to close their establishments, some have gone out of business, families no longer have any resources," scolds a young man, who does not understand that we can break the rules.
Hospitals are overloaded, there are people in intensive care, deaths.
It is not admissible.
According to the Regional Health Agency, 384 people with Covid-19 were hospitalized on Tuesday in Hérault, including 97 in intensive care.
Since March 2020, 760 people have died in the department.
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Covid 19
Coronavirus
Society
Languedoc-Roussillon
Montpellier
Curfew
Student