Corona in France: numbers rise and mood is falling

The return to everyday life can be read from several factors. On weekends, traffic jam warnings, for example, that recommend avoiding the roads that connect the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the Alps with Paris. Or the fact that pens, exercise books, and school bags now seem to fill half the sales area in department stores.

On September 1, after eight weeks of summer vacation, 12.3 million French schoolchildren will start school again and their collective retirement is about to begin. But this time it is not a return to the usual routines. The cities fill up again, but the faces disappear. As of Friday, the masks are mandatory in the Paris metropolitan area, in Marseille and in Strasbourg.

Cyclists and runners are saved

The mix of orders and contradictions that dominated the last days before the restart shows how nervous politicians are looking at the Rentrée this year. Although it was still said Thursday night that cyclists and runners would also have to wear masks in Paris, the regulation was revoked on Friday. If the Ministry of Education initially announced that preschool teachers do not have to wear a mask, on Friday those who work with children from three to six years old were also forced to cover their mouths and noses.

Warning and calm at the same time, this is the best way to describe the continuing direction of the government. It is not yet clear how well it is possible to live together in the constant state of vigilant restlessness. “The spread of the virus continues throughout the country,” Prime Minister Jean Castex said this week, an exponential growth in Covid-19 cases is “possible if we do not react quickly.” And he stressed at the same time that one “is not in a serious situation.” “There is no point scaring people.”

Indeed, French politicians have reacted calmly to the fact that other countries have declared Paris and parts of the Mediterranean region “high risk areas”. There are travel advisories, but France is rehearsing the normality of wearing masks.

If you look at the figures published by the Ministry of Health, two things emerge: a rapid increase in the number of people infected with corona; From Wednesday to Thursday alone, 6111 new cases were reported. That’s as much as the first peak of the pandemic in April. And at the same time a relatively relaxed situation in hospitals. In mid-April, more than 7,000 Covid-19 patients were treated in intensive care units, currently there are fewer than 400.

The beaches of France were crowded this summer, but Paris was empty.

Doctors assume that the reduction in severe courses is due to the fact that risk groups are now better protected or better protect themselves. The highest infection rate in France is currently found in people in their 20s to 30s, those who are significantly less likely to be diagnosed with a serious illness.

In addition, France has greatly expanded its testing capabilities. In mid-March, 5000 tests were performed daily, the Pasteur Institute assumes that a maximum of every 10th case of corona was recognized and counted as such in spring. Today, 90,000 crown tests are carried out in France every day. Castex announced that it would do one million tests per week in September.

60 percent fewer visitors

At the same time, it’s not entirely clear how the numbers will play out when all the students and employees have returned to their classrooms and offices. In an emergency, one is prepared to order curfews and local restrictions again, says the government. So far, it has only been true that Parisians in particular expect a new silence, regardless of whether there is a shutdown or not. France’s beaches were packed this summer, mostly with local tourists, but Paris was as empty as it had been in years. The Regional Tourism Commission published the figures for the first half of 2020: 9.4 million people visited the capital between January and June. In 2019 there were 23.7 million in the same period. The number of visitors has decreased by 60 percent.

So it’s not just the ubiquitous masks that are changing the street scene in late summer. They are also the many restaurants that remain closed. Stores whose windows are covered in paper. The numerous signs that indicate sales clearance. The long lines in front of the soup kitchens. If you illustrated not only the number of people infected with a curve, but also the mood in the capital, you could see a clear downward trend.

Posted today at 19:03