A report from a French government department has highlighted the major problems that took place as the country dealt with the victims of the epidemic in the spring. These included the enforced cremations of some of those who died, and funeral staff being exposed to danger of infection. The document, seen by Mediapart, contains a number of recommendations about what the state should do in the future. But as Lou Syrah reports, there are fears that without swift action the authorities could face similar problems - and greater anger - during the second wave.
In face of the Covid-19 virus crisis, French President Emmanuel Macron has failed in his mission, presiding over disorder, a sore lack of means to fight the epidemic and a ‘communications’ campaign of lies, argues Mediapart publishing editor and co-founder Edwy Plenel. In this op-ed article, he urges the dismissal of an antiquated presidential system and the establishment of a truly democratic republic in France.
Mehdi Medjahed has lived in France for 13 years, is a qualified fire safety security guard and is one of those “front line” heroes praised by French president Emmanuel Macron for working during the coronavirus epidemic. Yet when the 36-year-old was stopped by police and questioned over his immigration status, the situation not only developed into a violent confrontation, he was arrested, placed in custody and then a detention centre, and now finds himself the subject of a deportation order. Olivier Bertrand reports.
The terrorist knife attack last Thursday against a church in the Riviera city of Nice, when a 21-year-old Tunisian murdered two women and the basilica’s warden, has deeply shocked the local population. For many, the traumatic events brought back the horror of one of France’s worst terrorist attacks, on July 14th 2016, when a truck was driven into Bastille Day crowds on the city’s seafront boulevard, the Promenade des Anglais, killing 86 people. Sana Sbouai reports from Nice where locals tell her of their mixed feelings of anger, fear and despondency.
Angela Merkel - treating the German people as grown-ups.
In an interview with Mediapart, history lecturer Johann Chapoutot, an expert on contemporary Germany and the history of the Nazis, uses the example of Germany to highlight France's failings in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. He says that while the German chancellor Angela Merkel appeals to people's reason, in France “they lie to us”. Interview by Ludovic Lamant.
Since the start of the coronavirus lockdown on March 17th in France drones have become an increasingly familiar sight above public areas in France. They have been used by the authorities to fly over towns and cites, coastal areas and parks. But no one is sure if these drones are filming people and, if so, whether the images are being stored or cross-checked with police files. As Clément Le Foll and Clément Pouré report, civil liberties groups are increasingly worried about the situation.
A few minutes after the horrific murder of Samuel Paty near Paris, his attacker Abdoullakh Abouyezidovitch A. posted a photo of the history teacher's head on his Twitter account. Mediapart can reveal that at the end of August the 18-year-old Russian-born Chechen had also posted a photomontage of a mock decapitation. It has also emerged that several people had flagged the youth's Twitter account to the authorities in recent months. Matthieu Suc reports.
In common with other parts of the country, the potentially volatile La Reynerie district of the south-west city of Toulouse has seen flare-ups of violence since the start of the coronavirus lockdown in France on March 17th. On the ground, a combination of collectives, residents and associations have been trying to foster a sense of solidarity and set up support networks without waiting for a response from the city authorities who are only belatedly now trying to introduce measures to reduce local tensions. Emmanuel Riondé reports from Toulouse.
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues its devastating path across the world, wreaking close to 200,000 recorded deaths from the virus and a global economic meltdown, the only evident hopes for a stabilised return to normal activity lies in a vaccine or a drug treatment to contain its spread. But few believe a vaccine will be realistically ready before, at the earliest, 2021. French microbiologist Didier Raoult has championed an immediately available antiviral compound called chloriquine, previously used against malaria, as a miracle drug that neutralises the virus, receiving the support of US President Donald Trump and last week hosting a visit to his laboratory by French President Emmanuel Macron. But as Pascale Pascariello reports, deep controversy surrounds the work of Raoult, a maverick amid France’s scientific establishment.
Amid the coronavirus epidemic in France, Mediapart has been asking doctors from a range of different hospital services to describe, in their own words, their day-to-day experiences and difficulties in coping with the current crisis. Here, Matthieu, a 26-year-old junior doctor in an intensive care unit in the north-east city of Strasbourg, describes the physical and psychological exhaustion of his relentless duty shifts over recent weeks, and his fears of a backdraught of the epidemic after the lifting of the national lockdown.
