Friday March 19, 2021
Lockdown is coming
Macron surrenders to third wave
French politicians joke that President Macron has "lost his bet". The government wants to hold out for a long time without a lockdown in the face of a sharp rise in the number of cases. Now there are new business closings and tough conditions. The turning point plays into the cards of the political opponents.
For weeks, French President Emmanuel Macron blocked a new lockdown, despite all warnings from virologists. But now the third wave of corona is forcing the government to act: From Saturday, around 21 million citizens will be subject to hard conditions for the third time in the pandemic. A good year before the presidential election, this plays into the hands of right-wing populist Marine Le Pen in particular.
Le Pen used the new lockdown for a head-on attack on Macron: "You lock people up when you've failed completely," she said. After "yellow vests" protests and strikes against the pension reform, the pandemic is grist to the populist's mill. According to surveys, Le Pen can hope for a head-to-head race with Macron in 2022.
But even moderate politicians see Macron as the loser of his own "bet", as they called those around him with little sensitivity: Thanks to vaccinations, he can make it into the summer without major lockdowns. The hospitals groaning under the immense number of corona intensive care patients and more than 91,000 deaths leave the president no choice.
From the weekend, almost all non-daily shops in the greater Paris area and in parts of northern and southern France will have to close again. People are only allowed to leave their homes for valid reasons, such as shopping or going to the doctor. Macron left the uncomfortable announcements to his Prime Minister Jean Castex. He praised Macron's decisions as "courageous" and "pragmatic" and spoke of a "third way" in which schools, unlike recently in Germany, should remain largely open.
Lockdown not quite as hard as 2020
Sports and walks in the open air should also be possible for the first time in France without strict time limits, and hairdressers and bookshops will also remain open. Almost exactly a year ago, Macron martially declared a "war against the invisible enemy" of the virus and imposed one of the toughest lockdowns in Europe with strict curfews. After his own Covid 19 illness and that of his 67-year-old wife Brigitte in December, the 43-year-old suddenly switched to a laissez-faire course.
When the Paris area exceeded all alarm levels at the end of January, nothing happened. Even when the incidence in the area of twelve million people soared above 400 in March, Macron was playing for time. On the Côte d'Azur and in parts of northern France, however, the government imposed curfews on weekends, and the television showed beaches that had been swept empty. Anger against "privileged Parisians" was the result. What drove Macron to do this? "In France, the central government has massive respect for the Parisians who beheaded kings in the past," says a European diplomat.
In addition, the greater Ile de France is the economic heart of France, and a strict lockdown could paralyze the whole country. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, also fought against new "inhuman" curfews. The 61-year-old is also traded as a possible presidential candidate. She could run for her Socialist Party, which Macron had humiliated in the last election.
There is at least one ray of hope for the French President: the vaccinations with the Astrazeneca vaccine can continue. Without it, Macron's plan would also be on the brink of having two-thirds of all French adults vaccinated by the summer. The head of state has also already made a new bet: "In a few months, Europe will be the region of the world that produces the most vaccines," Macron said this week.
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