Covid-19: Fearing a second wave, the French government is relying on a local strategy

Source(s): France 24

By David Rich

As the coronavirus pandemic accelerates in France, Prime Minister Jean Castex wants to rely on a regionalised approach. At a press conference on Friday, he said that "most of the measures should not be decided from Paris". This is a very different strategy to the one adopted in March when the whole of France was put under lockdown. Jan-Cédric Hansen, a doctor and member of the French Society of Disaster Medicine, explains it to FRANCE 24.

[...]

France 24: Can we talk about this change in the government's approach towards more localised management?

Jan-Cédric Hansen: Until now, the state's management of the crisis has been very top-down and there is now a willingness to tackle problems locally. It is clear that the government's priority is to continue to move the country forward and protect its citizens, but accepting that there is a greater risk for the weakest. Of course, the economic aspect is paramount, but it cannot be the only barometer of political decision-making, otherwise, we run the risk of greater disaster, as we have seen in the United States.

[...]

Localised lockdown makes it possible to isolate very targeted areas where the virus circulates a lot, to identify carriers quickly and to apply the necessary measures. We have access to very precise population flow studies in France. Rather than testing everyone, we need to identify the most exposed people, i.e. those who move around the most, and test them as a priority.

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