Paris
As France entered lockdown at midday Tuesday, city streets were largely abandoned after a panicky exodus to country homes where many prepared to wait out what President Emmanuel Macron has termed a “war” on the coronavirus outbreak.
In an unprecedented peacetime measure, millions have been ordered to work from home and look after their children as schools, cafes, shops and even public parks and gardens were closed. A government decree required people venturing outside to show a certificate to justify their movements, which were limited to buying food, seeing a doctor, walking the dog or going for a jog, but prohibited meeting up with family or friends.
Going to work is allowed only if a company cannot make provisions for staff to work from home, and then only if special anti-infection measures are put in place at the office. Supermarkets were overrun Tuesday as the country’s 65 million residents stocked up in preparation for the confinement, initially set for two weeks.
“We’ll go crazy if we stay home!” grumbled Jean, a Parisian in his 70s who was shopping in a city where gathering in parks, cafes, bars and restaurants is an key part of daily life.
“I don’t read, I’m not the kind of person who watches TV all day, and I live alone! I have to get out a bit,” he told AFP, interrupting himself to say: “Damn, I forgot my (hand sanitising) gel, I’ll have to go back up to fetch it.”
On Monday, Macron addressed an anxious nation to say that strict confinement was the only effective weapon against a virus that has infected more than 6,600 people and killed 148 in France.–AFP
