This morning I was sitting downstairs happily noting that my 95-year-old mother was coughing less than on previous days when a groaning came from her room.

Thinking “Oh my God, she’s having difficulty breathing!”, I ran up the stairs only to find her complaining that a bit of her breakfast was stuck in her gullet.

So a bit of slapping on the back and panic over. She is, indeed, coughing less (a bit) and still no temperature.

Mum being partially sighted, we sometimes listen to audiobooks together; they come in very handy on long journeys. One was When I go to sleep, which is about a woman who forgets all her past life every night. Once she finds out what is happening, she writes it all down in a secret notebook (because, of course, there are suspicions of plots and manipulation).

Mum’s memory not being what it was, this story comes to mind when I am trying to persuade her to observe the anti-virus precautions. The gravity of the situation slips her mind and she is not keen on coughing into her sleeve, doing so into the elbow having been judged too difficult a manoeuvre, or washing her hands for any length of time.

Now we have a reminder session every morning. “What do we have to remember?” “Umm, don’t know, tell me.” “About the virus.” “Umm … cough into my sleeve.” “And?” “Umm …” “Wash you hands very regularly and for 20 seconds.”  

Last night we had our first ever aperitif à distance, with Ian Noble and Simone Slifman. Ian had been very proud of coming up with this wonderful idea. Then he went to Monoprix and found that they had special offers for this very activity. At least he can congratulate himself on being in tune with the zeitgeist.

They have come across a vulgarised version of Giorgio Agamben’s strong-state conspiracy theory – “I’m not going to fill those bloody forms out! It’s sliding towards a police state!” – which sounds like a left-wing cover for individualistic selfishness à la française to me.

An astonishing row has blown up between Labour Minister Murielle Pénicaud and the construction industry.

Madame la Ministre has accused building employers of “defeatism” and a “lack of civic-mindedness” because they want to close down sites for 10 days to adjust to the anti-virus requirements.

Yes, you read that right, the bosses want to stop work and the minister wants them to keep soldier on. The trade unions, unusually but unsurprisingly, agree with the bosses and one union leader has called on Pénicaud to resign.

She argues that building work is done in the open air, that the workers can keep at the necessary distance from each other and that they can go to work in cars rather than public transport. But, as some papers have pointed out, the prospect of providing lay-off pay to two million workers – 10% of the nation’s workforce – can’t help but be a consideration for her.

That said, I see that Italy has only just got round to ordering its building sites to close.

The latest statistics for France: 562 deaths (112 since Friday night), 14,459 recorded cases, 6,172 hospitalised, 1,525 in intensive care.