EUROPE 1 AND YOU - Three years after the first lockdown, what has changed in our lives?

Clotilde Dumay, edited by Laura Laplaud 07h16, March 17, 2023

It is a date now imprinted in the collective memory: March 17, 2020. Three years ago, the very first lockdown began at noon sharp. No more contact with the outside, no more non-essential travel. The aim was to roll back the Covid-19 epidemic. Three years later, the French have regained their freedom of movement but have they retained certain health reflexes?

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The fear of being positive fades

Breathless by the steps of the metro exit, Jean is one of the few passengers to have a mask on his nose. "I escaped TB as a child, I had two heart attacks, I have bladder cancer and I stay alive. I'm not going to be contaminated by an unfortunate man who is blowing me in the face in the metro," he exclaims at the microphone of Europe 1.

But the fear of being positive for Covid-19 is fading, three years after a first confinement that is still in everyone's mind. "I remember at work, the week before, we thought it was going to be okay, we were all a little bit in denial. It was almost fun in quotation marks because it was so exceptional that we had no idea where we were going," recalls this passer-by.

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"We kiss less"

However, three years later, "the life before" is back, says a Parisian crossed in the street. According to Elisabeth, it still focused on health issues like "washing hands, wearing masks, paying attention to others."

Since the pandemic, some continue to pay attention to their contact with the outside. These Parisians take the metro less or no longer embrace some of their acquaintances. "We kiss less to those we know less well, we do it to those we are happy to find," smiles this Parisian. And also opt for more teleworking.