Dr Jean-Jacques Razafindranazy has died as a result of Covid-19 at the age of 67. He is the first health worker in France to do so.
As the Le Pens and their admirers would say – in other circumstances – that’s not a very French family name.
Everybody knows there will be more such deaths, some of which could have been avoided if production of the right kind of masks and tests had been treated as an emergency in January, when warnings of an epidemic were already being made.
A grim story from China – in January a 17-year-old with cerebral palsy died alone when his father contracted the virus and was quarantined at a treatment facility along with his younger brother.
This is what I am most worried about with Mum – that I contract the virus and she is left alone, confused, unable to look after herself and wondering where I am.
That fear makes today’s planned trip to the supermarket – my first since lockdown started – feel a bit like going into a warzone. I woke up in the middle of the night worrying about the contagion being passed on by packaging.
The French authorities are so frustrated with people ignoring the lockdown that they have introduced a higher fine, of 1,500 euros, for being caught a second time outside without the necessary paperwork.
The lockdown is pretty much certain to be prolonged for another fortnight today.
A group of 573 health workers have written an open letter to Macron, calling on him to be “more explicit” in explaining that “staying at home is the only way to turn off the tap”.
Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure has also written to the president, calling for the requisition of all industries that can produce masks, tests, inhalers and hand cleanser. If we’re “at war” with the virus, as Macron said last week, why have these war measures not already been taken?
Faure also wants tighter restrictions on going out – close open-air markets and stop people jogging – and a plan for recovery when the nightmare is over.
Whatever one may think of his party’s record in government, this all seems both obvious and urgent.
