France is in a “race against time” against Covid-19, Emmanuel Macron declared in a television broadcast this week, writes academic Philippe Marlière in The Guardian.
In an attempt to curb France’s soaring Covid case numbers, Macron has imposed a national lockdown, extending to the entire country measures that were already in place in 19 départements. Although Macron insisted that France had not lost control, he admitted that “we cannot be in denial either”.
The president may no longer be in denial, but the situation in some parts of France appears to be very much out of control. Daily Covid cases have reached 59,000 compared with the UK’s 4,000, and hospitals are straining under the pressure; some doctors worry that they may soon need to start prioritising those who will have the greatest chance of successful treatment.
The issue of intensive care bed capacity has been a thorn in Macron’s side for the past year. In March 2020, the health minister promised to increase the number of beds to 14,000. One year later, doctors and nurses are accusing the government of having largely broken its pledge. Most of these beds never materialised, and France’s hospitals appear unable to cope with the challenges of the pandemic.
Macron’s admission of the scale and severity of France’s Covid crisis signals a remarkable change of attitude.