The discourse of the public authorities on the subject of the Covid is marked by a certain condescension towards the French which recalls precedents during the epidemics of the nineteenth century, argues the health historian *.
I have no jurisdiction to judge the health merits of the curfew and the results that can be expected to limit the progress of the epidemic but the measure seems to me sufficiently symbolic to analyze it, among other things, prism of history.
A new step has been taken.
Our leaders are no longer satisfied with the military metaphor but are now drawing on the concrete arsenal of war measures.
Choosing the word "curfew" to designate night confinement is of course intended to strike public opinion and convince it of the gravity of the situation.
Yet the choice of the word is unfortunate to say the least.
Indeed, it was during the Second World War and therefore under the Nazi occupation that France experienced its last general curfews.
We remain confused
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