William Tobin gives a view of the lockdown in France:
President Macron addressed the nation on Monday night at 20.02, timed so as not to clash with the nightly 8pm countrywide burst of clapping and saucepan bashing that expresses thanks to the valiant efforts of health workers in the Covid-19 crisis. This was M. Macron’s fourth coronavirus address. In the first he was visibly agitated. In the second he likened the fight against the virus to a war. I disapprove of this simile, because the epidemic is nothing like a war. There is no hostile enemy, there is no shortage of food, there is no destruction of property, essential services are uninterrupted and there is no possibility of losing against the virus. Ultimately, the pandemic will die out.
On Monday the President was more subdued. He announced an extension of the lockdown for a further four weeks, with the expectation that restrictions may be eased, but by no means eliminated, from May 11. He didn’t say it, but for oldies like me (I’m 67) the advice is surely going to be ‘stay home as much as possible’ until a vaccine becomes available in quantity, which is a year away at least. Here, New Zealand/Aotearoa will be blessed if its elimination strategy works. A hard and early lockdown coupled with test-trace-confine may work for Godzone’s more spread-out, isolated and less-infected population. Virus-free status may be achieved in only a few weeks, permitting much of the economy to restart, and could be maintained through quarantine of all arriving international travellers until a vaccine becomes available. This is only possible for an isolated, island nation. Unlike here in France where elimination is not an option, kiwi oldies may not need to remain isolated any longer than the general population. My late father was a virologist and epidemiologist. I would so much like to have had his opinion on SARS-CoV-2 and how to deal with it.
On a personal level, confinement doesn’t weight too heavily on me and my wife Laurence; indeed, we are almost enjoying the simpler rhythm. We live in Brittany, in the west of France, in a region with relatively few Covid cases. Our town, Vannes, has 60,000 inhabitants, which is big enough to have services like hospitals, hypermarkets and the railway, but small enough that we are not crushed together like in Paris, Lyons or Marseilles. We have a largish house and a garden. The world is fresh, with plants bursting into spring growth. We’ve had exceptionally sunny weather since the lockdown began – the rain forecast for the week-end will be very welcome. Apart from essential shopping and the like, we are allowed out once a day for no more than one hour for physical exercise that does not take us more than 1 km from home. Within that distance we have the river that passes through Vannes and a pleasure port. There’s a footbridge across the river 100 metres short of our 1 km limit enabling us to take a lovely loop walk each day. Keeping our eyes peeled, we have realized that some people live on their boats. In the last week we’ve seen the lime trees go from being in bud to full leaf. The birds have become very noticeable – everyone is remarking on them. Whether this is because they are no longer frightened away by the cars, or because their song is no longer drowned out by the traffic is a matter of debate. Our daily 2½-km walk is not enough – I’m beginning to feel a bit creaky sitting many hours at my keyboard. I need to start exercising at home to regain suppleness.
When we go out we need to take with us a signed declaration of who were are, where we live, why we are out, and at what time we left home. Initially the exercise limit was ‘in the vicinity’ and some neighbours received a €135 fine from a zealous officer for being 650 metres from base. But there are not many police about – two days ago was the first time we encountered any. People are pretty good about social distancing. Initially, other walkers and joggers would look away as our paths approached, but a ‘Bonjour’ is not infrequent now. Masks, many home-made, are becoming quite common.
We go shopping far less frequently. After being shut, the twice-weekly open-air market has begun again, so fresh food from local suppliers is available. In the supermarkets it is quiet. There are few empty shelves. Apart from hand sanitizer, the only item we have missed is bakers’ yeast. Lots of home ovens in use! In addition Laurence is delighted about Promocash. This wholesaler normally supplies only restaurants, but that business has collapsed, so Promocash has opened to the public. There are lots of interesting items available of good quality and at attractive prices, some of which are otherwise difficult to source, such as pigeon. New-Zealand lamb is easy enough to find retail, but our Easter roast from Promocash was delicious and reasonably-priced at €10/kg.
Laurence & I have plenty of unfinished projects that are keeping us busy at home. Socially, we have had several ‘apéros grillage’ – evening aperitifs with the immediate neighbours on both sides. We set up our respective table and chairs a few metres from the common boundary fence and consume our own wine and nibbles. For family and friends farther afield we have been having internet apéros. Everyone is mildly worried about putting on weight with all this eating and drinking!
The confinement is more difficult for those who live in flats. Our daughter Lara is in a 40 m² flat in Paris with her partner. They have a bedroom and a living room cum kitchen. Both are working from home. Lara’s job involves a lot of telephoning. This makes it difficult for her partner to concentrate on her work, so I sent them a set of noise-cancelling headphones. The nearby park is closed, but there are still interesting jogs within 1 km, so I’m sure they’ll survive. Our other daughter Melanie is in a flat-share in Philadelphia. We are very pleased to be able to skype her twice a week. She began working from home several weeks ago. She is less oppressed by the isolation. Recreation-wise, her dance class and American Sign Language class have moved on-line, and she recently volunteered to assemble face shields for the hospital.
It is much more difficult for those whose job has evaporated or been curtailed. As retirees, our income is unaffected by the crisis, and both daughters continue in full employment. We share a cleaner with a nurse friend, and since she (the friend) is keeping up the cleaner’s employment as not too risky, so are we. I am very pleased that the French Government is providing a safety net for many of those laid off or whose business is in trouble, and in due course will be happy to pay my contribution in taxes towards this exceptional effort.
Photo: The pleasure port in Vannes, close to the town centre, 200 metres from our house. Normally the esplanade is teeming with people.
My comments about NZ’s elimination strategy come after reading the editorial in last week’s New Zealand Medical Journal, on-line at: https://www.nzma.org.nz/
Kahu has nine days left in quarantine. In the Covid world, New Zealand had its highest number of daily deaths, but the number of new cases fell to 17. Dr Bloomfield commented that it's enough of a trend to show we are definitely past the peak. For the first time on record, more New Zealanders arrived back in the country than left our shores. Spain has begun to lift its lockdown measures.
No comments:
Post a Comment