"We have no connection at all!" This observation made by the mayor of Escourse, Patrick Sabin, it is possible to hear it in the mouths of all the inhabitants of this small commune of Landes who have access to the Internet. While many French people have taken refuge in new technologies to communicate, telecommute or simply class their children during confinement, life in the "white areas", these places poorly covered by the telecom network, has become even more complex.
>> Coronavirus: follow live developments
"I can not work"
"It was going very badly, but there, because people are confined to their homes, we have no connection at all," laments Patrick Sabin at the microphone of Europe 1. "I cannot make transfers, nor pay my VAT ", details the councilor who is also a business manager at the microphone of Europe 1." It's very complicated, we can't work with mobile phones, nor with Internet boxes, and if we use the landline, we have even less power to go online. "
CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS
> How long are healthy carriers contagious?
> What are the side effects of chloroquine?
> Adulterated tests, false calls for donations ...: watch out for scams linked to the coronavirus
> Reading, board games ... How to stimulate your brain during confinement?
> How to avoid gaining pounds during confinement?
The galley of homework ...
A difficulty that also affects children when they have to do their homework remotely. But in this case there is a certain solidarity. "I explained to my son's mistress that we did not have the Internet, she kindly agreed to send the homework by email to the town hall," explains Marilyne Dos Santos. It is therefore the mayor who prints the exercises "every day" for this inhabitant, before entrusting them to an employee of the town hall who will slip them into his mailbox.
>> PODCAST - Coronavirus: find all the answers to your questions here
... and the exit certificate
And even to get the famous exit certificate that we all need for three weeks every time we have to go outside, the absence of the Internet makes things more difficult. Marilyne Dos Santos was even forced to ring the bell to relatives to print a copy of the precious sesame, before running into the nearest supermarket to go and make photocopies.