So it turns out that migrants have their uses! Faced with a shortage of labour in the market gardens of Seine et Marne, which provide much of Paris’s fruit and veg, the authorities have appealed to refugees to go and work in the fields.
Farmers had already suggested that companies might “loan” them laid-off workers.
A tweet from the Seine et Marne préfet, the top government official in the area, met a mixed response with comments like “Aren’t you beating them with truncheons any more?” and demands to know how much they would be paid.
The work is on a voluntary basis, he replied, adding that they would be given work permits and paid the rate for the job, without giving a figure. As of yesterday, 56 had volunteered to go and dig spuds and pick fruit.
Let’s hope the racists are paying attention!
Globalisation may have contributed to the spread of the virus but now cross-border cooperation is helping fight it.
Not only has China embarked on a soft-power drive to help other countries – an effort that includes sending millions of masks to France – and Cuba sent teams of doctors to needy nations, but also hospitals in Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland have taken in seriously ill French patients.
Meanwhile, Orly airport has closed, which means less noise pollution for us in Champigny.
Whose side is God on? One reason that the Grand Est region of France is the second worst affected by the epidemic is that 2,500 evangelical Christians visited a megachurch in the city of Mulhouse in late February. That was before the government banned large gatherings. Social distancing was not observed during the prayer meetings.
A number of those present have tested positive, including one of the preachers, Samuel Peterschmitt, who is the founder’s son. At least two have died and others have spread the virus to other regions, including the French south American territory of Guyana.
In a video sermon, Pastor Thiebault Geyer has apologised with tears in his eyes for the church’s role in spreading the virus. That didn’t stop him claiming that the fact that he has not tested positive is a sign from heaven that he has “a role to play” in fighting the virus today.
France is not the only country where religious gatherings, sometimes held in defiance of bans, have helped spread the virus, nor is Christianity the only religion whose adepts have ignored scientists’ warnings.
France’s Covid-19 recorded death toll is now 3,523, a rise of 499 in 24 hours. The number of confirmed cases has risen by a record 7,657 over the same period. There are 22,800 people being treated in hospital, 5,565 of them in intensive care, a figure that has doubled over the last week. Sixty per cent of the patients are between 60 and 80 years old.
