China News Service, July 14th Question: The epidemic of the wars of the nations: Mona Lisa's smile is back, the French problem is still there

  Author: Dong Hanyang

  The Louvre, France, which has been quiet for more than three months due to the new crown epidemic, reopened on July 6, local time, and a long line was again formed in front of the glass pyramid in the Louvre square.

  Over the past few months, the Louvre has been closed twice and reopened twice due to the epidemic. With the arrival of summer, Mona Lisa finally "smiled" and faced the public, but in front of him there was a "maintain social distance" mark.

  As of now, the new coronavirus has claimed the lives of more than 30,000 people in France. During the fight against the epidemic, the mortality rate is higher than that of other countries in France.

On July 6, local time, the Louvre Museum in Paris, France was reopened, taking strict epidemic prevention and control measures to control the number of visitors.

"Romantic" French,

And the “strictest” restrictions in Europe

  "Unless there are special circumstances, it is forbidden to carry out any activities outside the house!" In April, a drone equipped with speakers issued a strong "warning" over a beach in Nice, southern France; under the drone, the French people lay lazily on the beach As pedestrians come and go, the police are checking travel certificates one by one.

  Since France entered the blockade on March 17, the government sent 100,000 police and gendarmerie to carry out inspections on the people going out everywhere.

  "From the moment you go out, when you are on the road, and when you reach your destination, we will all be here (check you)," the police chief of Paris said.

  But this simply can't stop the "Fatish" French. At the beginning of the Easter holiday in early April, officials shouted on one side, "Don’t go on vacation during the blockade, the virus will not be on holiday!" On the other side, since the prohibition order began, the police stopped 5.8 million people on the street and opened 360,000 fines.

  France's then Minister of Interior Castane once said bluntly that France's epidemic prevention and control can be described as "the strictest" in Europe. But from the beginning of the epidemic, the free and romantic Frenchman's response seemed to be half a beat.

  On January 24, France reported the first three confirmed cases of the new crown, becoming the first country to report confirmed cases in Europe.

  Nevertheless, in the middle and late February, the border city of Menton between France and Italy has become a "golden ocean". The Menton Lemon Festival is being held there, and tourists from all over the world are pouring in from all directions.

On February 18th, local time, the 87th Menton Lemon Festival in Menton, France was held. The theme of this year's lemon festival is "Parties around the World", and fruit sculptures attract attention.

  During the day, people gather around the fruit sculptures made of lemons and oranges and take a group photo; when the night falls, night parades float through the town; enthusiastic dancers dance on the car and people gather together Sing loudly and enjoy a dreamlike carnival.

  The outbreak also failed to stop the footsteps of a large number of French demonstrators. In early March, in a narrow street in Paris, 20,000 people from Paris and surrounding provinces held banners to protest the retirement reform policy. Only a few people in the team put on masks.

  A few days later, outside the Parc des Princes Stadium stadium, nearly 3,000 Paris Saint-Germain "die" fans gathered to greet the team's match against Dortmund. Despite the empty game, they cheered and cheered the whole street.

  The French epidemic has risen in a straight line in the slack of the people. From the first case to the 50,000th case, it took 67 days; from the 50,000 case to the 100,000 case, it took only 7 days. On April 7th alone, more than 1,400 people died due to new coronary pneumonia, setting a new record for the increase in single-day deaths in Europe at that time.

Apology, that record-breaking TV speech

Macron faces a difficult choice

  "So, are we prepared for this epidemic? Obviously insufficient preparation." In a televised speech on the evening of April 13, French President Macron acknowledged for the first time the government's mistakes in responding to the new crown pneumonia crisis and apologized to the public.

  In this speech, the number of viewers reached an unprecedented 35 million. That is to say, 86.6% of all TV viewers in France were watching. At that time, the epidemic situation had not yet reached its peak, and the number of diagnoses continued to increase, and the French government finally woke up like a dream.

  And the youngest leader of France, who became president at the age of 39, is also facing unprecedented challenges. For him, the epidemic is a double-edged sword: if the epidemic is properly controlled, it will win more trust; and if there are major mistakes, its support rate will be hit hard.

  "Life needs to continue." Macron, who took his wife to the theater to watch the drama at the beginning of the outbreak, said.

  At that stage, the French government’s anti-epidemic strategy was to prevent the infection of the elderly, without implementing a blockade order or increasing virus detection. This indirectly created the outbreak stage, the huge number of French critically ill patients.

Data map: French President Macron.

  Unfortunately, the six-year French municipal elections run almost simultaneously, and the situation of candidates for the ruling party is not optimistic. For Macron, only when this election gained an advantage and seeking re-election did he have a bargaining chip.

  As a result, the French government has undergone two "unusual" changes before and after: Prime Minister Philip ran to run for mayor of Le Havre, and the most important commander in the "anti-epidemic"-former health minister Anie Si Bizan suddenly announced his resignation in February and turned to run for mayor of Paris.

  However, the epidemic will not stop and wait. In March, Macron issued a televised speech, officially announcing "We are at war." The government began to fight the epidemic with all its strength, and the second round of voting in the municipal elections was postponed.

  Macron's approval rating also took the "roller coaster" following the epidemic. In March, his approval rating surged to over 50%. By the end of June, its public opinion approval rate had dropped back to about 35%.

  This was undoubtedly a big blow to Macron, who had been in the presidency for nearly half of his term and was frustrated in local elections.

  At the beginning of July, Philip resigned as French prime minister, and Jean Castel, the "anti-epidemic hero" who was responsible for formulating the national unblocking plan, came online and became the current prime minister. He is also a strong supporter of Macron's economic reconstruction plan.

  The new French government has also "recombined quickly" after Castel took office, focusing on the economic recovery after the epidemic, and revitalizing national confidence.

  Philip and Bizan, who participated in the mayor's campaign, failed to move forward. They were listed as the subject of investigation by the court of the French Republic because of the alleged lack of resistance to the epidemic.

On April 1, local time, at the Gare d'Austerlitz train station in Paris, France, medical staff observed the patients in the high-speed train through the train window.

Sitting on a world-class medical system

Why is France still caught off guard?

  When the epidemic was serious, there were more than 2,000 serious patients in the Greater Paris area, and there was a serious shortage of reorganization monitoring beds. The high-speed train had to be turned into an "express train" to transfer patients, and more than 100 patients were transferred to areas with lighter epidemics.

  As a developed country with one of the best medical systems in the world, why is France caught off guard by the epidemic?

  University of Pennsylvania expert Julia Lynch said helplessly that in the past 20 years, the overall operating capacity of French hospitals has declined, and the government’s financial investment in health care has been reduced year by year. "Especially in rural areas, many hospitals have shut down."

  An emergency rescuer in Paris said: "It feels like we are in a third world country. Without enough masks and protective equipment, we may need more medicine."

  In this regard, French health minister Viran said, "In 2011 and 2013, the French government decided not to hoard a large number of masks." The data shows that France once had 1 billion strategic stock masks, and by 2020, only 150 million were left. .

  Excessive reliance on imported testing equipment also makes the French testing supply severely inadequate, making it impossible to understand the status of the epidemic and prevent and control it in time.

On April 8, local time, in a hospital in the city of Bagnolet near Paris, medical staff were nursing on the way to send patients with new coronary pneumonia for scanning and examination.

  The French nursing home is cast a "death shadow". In the Riviera nursing home, 36 people died after experiencing new crown symptoms, accounting for one-third of the total number of nursing homes.

  "If the test can be started earlier, everything will be different." The official of the French Association of Private Nursing Homes lamented. More than 20 days after the confirmed cases appeared in the nursing home, the rest of the elderly and staff began to be tested.

  Compared with neighboring Germany, France has 40,000 fewer diagnoses, but the number of deaths is more than three times. Some analysts said that the lack of nucleic acid detection was the "culprit" that caused the French death toll to be too high.

On the banks of the Seine, after an economic winter

"Keep fighting and keep smiling"

  The government's strict "foot ban" allowed the epidemic to gradually cool down, and the French economy suffered a winter.

  “It’s a shame that restaurants and bars can’t be opened. This is part of our lives and culture.” At the end of May, on the banks of the Seine in Paris, catering companies placed dozens of aprons, chef hats, and restaurant trays on the shore, to In protest, they are seeking the possibility of reopening.

  According to official French statistics, the country's economic growth rate fell by 17% in the second quarter of this year. During the "foot ban", hundreds of thousands of French cafes and restaurants were forced to fall silent. Due to the suspension of restaurants and many festivals, it is estimated that more than 10 million liters of beer have been dumped.

  French automakers Renault and Peugeot Citroen announced early shutdowns and production shutdowns, and even major apparel brands such as Louis Vuitton (LV) and Dior (Dior) have also transformed into protective products.

From June 2 local time, cafes and restaurants in the French capital Paris will reopen, but only open-air seats are allowed.

  "This is a catastrophic situation," Dinamur said, looking at the empty shop. He is the owner of a restaurant in Nanfa. At the age of 57, he and his employees emptied cheese and food worth 20,000 euros before closing. To reduce losses and avoid waste, he also sold part of the food to a bakery and part of it to the neighborhood.

  Dinamur said he could only afford his employees about two months' salary, after which employees had to apply for minimum wages with the government.

  This is just a small epitome of the French unemployment wave. According to the statistics of the French Ministry of Labor, the number of unemployed in March rose by 7.1% in a month.

  The epidemic has forced the French to isolate themselves, but it has also hit the tourism industry hard. The Louvre Museum and the Palace of Versailles had "closed doors" for three months. The Eiffel Tower experienced the longest period of closure since World War II. At Disneyland Paris, nearly 17,000 employees were suspended.

  In addition, the number of tourists to France is expected to decrease by 30% to 40% in 2020, and the industry's quarterly losses may reach 40 billion euros.

  Right now, France has entered the third phase of "unblocking", and the catering and tourism industries have gradually restarted. However, since the "blocking" on May 11, there have been more than 200 aggregate infections in France, meaning that the epidemic has not yet been painted. period.

  Perhaps as restaurant owner Dina Moore said, "I want to tell everyone to continue fighting and keep smiling. We will one day reopen." (End)