While the confinement has been extended until Wednesday April 15, the French are wondering what to expect once it is lifted. Why doctor collected the testimony of Béatrice, 53, event entrepreneur.
How long will the lockdown last? How will it impact the habits of the French? Should we fear new epidemics? Béatrice, 53, event entrepreneur, confined with her two daughters to Plessis-Bouchard (95), testifies.
“We are not immune to new epidemics”
“In total, I think that the confinement will last at least two months, to incubate all the people who have been infected at different times, since the total confinement has not been respected. It cannot be, anyway, because some people always have to travel to work. For me, this confinement makes sense, if only for hospitals. By flattening the wave of reported cases as much as possible, healthcare professionals will be better able to provide their services over time.
Despite everything, I’m not afraid that the pandemic will make us fall into an overly monitored society, because I’m not against the idea of reducing my individual freedoms when it comes to this type of cause. I trust my country’s government and democracy enough to accept a facial recognition system, for example, or large-scale tests, to help reduce the consequences of this health crisis, whether in terms of mortality , care, and economy. Especially since we are not immune to new epidemics. If it happened once, it can happen again. Now, it’s a question of frequency, means, and anticipation. I think the current pandemic will be a good lesson in anticipating and implementing increased security measures.
“Lead to a personal and professional questioning”
I am not sure that deconfinement can result in the release of all French people at once, unless we have achieved collective immunity. I still think that the government will maintain some measures to avoid large gatherings. I do not imagine that the country’s activity will fully resume before September. This also applies to behavior: post-pandemic, it will be a little difficult to touch each other, to kiss each other – but we will at least have gotten into the habit of washing our hands frequently!
On the other hand, we will have learned to be close to others and to our own. I find that we are returning to a less egocentric society. It’s almost as if we could remove the superfluous to get back to basics. This ‘suspension of time’ allows us to ask ourselves questions about our way of life, about what we really want. It can lead to a personal and professional questioning because we are no longer subject to the daily pressure of work which makes us move forward like robots. For me, it only confirms the personal work that I had begun to do on these subjects, with the desire to slow down the pace of work and refocus on the family bond. It also comforts me in the feeling of solidarity which has always been very important to me.
“We will learn a positive lesson from this whole story”
More broadly, this crisis will also surely lead to new ways of governing, economically and politically. On working methods, I think there will be a questioning with telework and the adjustment of schedules: we realize that it is possible. I want to believe that selfish behaviors won’t come back as quickly as they were shut down. We will learn a positive lesson from this whole story.”