Kerry woman speaks of tough French restrictions

A LIOS Póil woman living in Northwest France has said that social-distancing restrictions are even tighter in France and subject to much-heavier punishments – and while people accept the government is doing the right thing, it has hit the country’s morale hard.

Cáit Kennedy lives in Brest with her husband and two teenage children, and is herself self-isolating on doctor’s advice. While she has not been diagnosed with COVID-19 and doesn’t meet the criteria for a test, she’s not taking any risks – and, regardless, there’s very little room allowed for risk-taking in France at the moment anyway.

“I work for a local company that exports tomatoes all over the world, and I was going to work until recently. But I’ve been self-isolating after I woke up with a temperature, sore throat, and headaches,” she said. “Only people with respiratory problems are being tested, but I’m self-isolating on doctor’s orders. My doctor doesn’t know if it’s COVID-19 or something else.

“The country has been on total lock-down, and everyone is adhering to it. You can only go outside if you download a form from the government online. You have to have a reason for being outside of the home – normally to buy groceries, go to the pharmacy etcetera – and you can go for a walk within one kilometre of where you live. But you must have the form.

“If you don’t have the form, there’s a fine of €135. If you get three fines in a month, you’re liable to get a €4,000 fine or prison sentence. The fine was originally €35, but that wasn’t stopping people. This has worked.”

Ms Kennedy said that, not unlike Leo Varadkar in this country, President Emmanuel Macron’s popularity has risen as the public accepts they cannot have a situation unfolding like those in neighbouring Spain and Italy.

She added that people have been largely very responsible, with little sign of house parties or large gatherings of the kind that had taken place here and there in Ireland.

That said, with lock-down extended until April 14 at least, morale is taking a battering.

“People are depressed, I would say. They can’t see an end,” she said. “People’s lives have been affected. Beaches are closed. The weather is beautiful, but we can’t go outside. You can imagine the effect long-term on people’s mentality.

“I’m lucky, I have a nice garden here, but a lot of people I work with have apartments with no balcony. But they know they have to go through this.”

The death toll in France is over 5,000, and this increases by a three-digit number each day.

Much of the worst effects have been confined to three pockets – in Paris, and a pocket each in both the northeast and centre of the country – but while authorities are attempting to slow the spread of the virus, it is likely it will spread west, to some extent at the very least. For now, though, hospitals in the west have been able to treat patients from elsewhere in the country as the virus puts strain on the health system.

“There have been huge problem with lack of supplies, masks all over France, even for healthcare workers as well,” added Cáit, a non-practicing nurse – and the problem may have been compounded after French officials since claimed that US buyers had wrested control of a consignment of masks that had been destined for France.

“My advice to people in Ireland: stay at home! It’s the only thing that’s going to work. The measures are starting to work here. The worst hasn’t happened here yet, that will be in the days ahead, but we are hopeful we acted early enough to avoid a situation like Italy’s”