Coronavirus: A French Disaster
by Guy Millière • April 13, 2020 at 5:00 am
The first bad decision was that, in contrast to the European Union fantasies, borders apparently do matter. France never closed them; instead it allowed large numbers of potential virus-carriers to enter the country.
In January 2020, several hundred thousand masks were available, but on February 19, President Macron decoded to send them to Wuhan, as a "gesture of solidarity with the Chinese people".... The French government announced that masks would be available soon, but by the end of March, most doctors and caregivers still had no masks. Several doctors fell ill. As of April 10, eight have died from COVID-19 and several others are in critical condition. On March 20, the Government's spokeswoman, Sibeth N'Diaye, incorrectly said, "masks are essentially useless".
On February 25, a renowned French epidemiologist, Professor Didier Raoult... published a video... In it, he said he had found a treatment quickly to end the pandemic: hydroxychloroquine... (used with azithromycin)... On April 10, Professor Raoult published data showing that he had treated and cured 2,401 patients.
Immediately, Olivier Veran, the new French minister of health, said that Professor Raoult's statements were "unacceptable" and that the treatment he was proposing was "worthless".... In an attempt to quell the controversy, the French government, by decree, authorized Professor Raoult's treatment in "military hospitals" for "patients reaching the acute phase of the disease" but prohibited family doctors from prescribing hydroxychloroquine. Professor Raoult replied that the treatment was only effective if administered "before the disease reaches its acute phase". [Emphasis added]
France's mainstream media would do well to fight harder for physicians to be able supply hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin and zinc sulfate. The French media would also do well to be more aware of the dirty game China is playing.
"The behavior of our leaders has been marked by unpreparedness, casualness, cynicism, and many of their acts imply the enforcement of the criminal law. Deliberate endangerment of the lives of others and failure to provide assistance to people in danger are obvious... In war, generals who are judged incompetent are sometimes shot. The President and other officials are well aware of this." — Regis de Castelnau, attorney, in Marianne, a center-left magazine, April 4, 2020.
On April 9, in France, one of the three European countries most affected by COVID-19 -- the others being Spain and Italy, 1,341 people died from the Chinese Communist Party virus. For Italy, the main European country affected so far, the figure on April 9 was 610 deaths; for Spain 446, and for Germany 266. While the pandemic has been stabilizing in Italy and Spain -- and in Germany seems contained -- in France it seems still expanding.
Extremely bad decisions taken by the authorities created a situation of contagion more destructive than it should have been.