"We wear masks": employees who returned from Italy testify

Psychosis linked to the coronavirus is increasing in France. Even more since the death of a teacher from the Oise, infected with the new coronavirus and died overnight in Paris.

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Faced with the risk of contamination, companies and employees organize themselves. Certain missions abroad are put in brackets in particular. At PSA, "travel with China and Italy has been suspended," explains the communications department. Same thing at Total where "the missions in mainland China and Hong Kong are suspended" . The oil group specifies that "the missions in Italy, in particular in the north of the country, must be the subject of a specific authorization".

For employees returning from risk areas, specific measures are adopted. "We are applying the measures requested by governments to the letter, whether in France or in China," said Auchan, who recalls having sold his activities in Italy last year. Before continuing: "from the start of the epidemic we mobilized, we follow the announcements very carefully" . Auchan has 150,000 employees in China, including in Hubei province, the epicenter of the epidemic. Regarding its French employees, "none have visited China recently, and in the case of personal trips to a country strongly affected by the coronavirus, we will take the necessary measures" . In a notarial study located in Paris, the HR department invited "those who have recently traveled to China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao), South Korea, Singapore and the regions of Lombardy and Veneto in Italy, or whose relatives come back from these countries, to contact us to consider together the precautions to be taken ” .

Teleworking, wearing a mask, questionnaires, etc.

Telework or long distance relationships are also solutions widely used by companies. At PSA, "people who recently went to Italy are teleworking" , we are told. On the Total side, regarding the recent situation in Italy, "the group invites its employees to work, when possible, from home" and "meetings which are not essential must be postponed and / or held by videoconference " Within Le Figaro , an email from the occupational health service indicates that “any traveler returning from China, Hong Kong, Macao, Korea, Singapore and the regions of Lombardy and Veneto in Italy must, within 14 days of their return, give priority to telecommuting after having informed their manager, monitoring their temperature, avoiding any unnecessary trip and wearing a mask if the trip is unavoidable ” . A bank employee recently returned from Milan explains, for example, that her employer asked her to telework for 14 days, the official incubation period.

For some companies, telework has been around for a long time. This is the case of Costa, which has offered a telework program for its employees working in offices for three years. "All employees have a professional laptop, and can work from home once a week as part of the program," details the cruise line. One of the employees working in the offices, returning from a trip to Italy, therefore applies the program "more continuously" to avoid any contamination.

Other precautionary measures are also implemented here and there. During the recent presentation of the PSA group's financial results, bringing together journalists and analysts, questionnaires were distributed to participants to find out about the trips they had recently made. During a visit to a Safran site on Wednesday, Véronique Guillemard, a journalist at Le Figaro , had to fill out a questionnaire of this type, asking her if she had traveled to China and Italy lately.

Franco-Italian economic relations disrupted

For several days now, the coronavirus epidemic has been on the rise in Italy. More than 300 people are infected and 11 have died. Franco-Italian economic relations are affected. At SNCF, the French agents providing the Paris-Milan TGV line alight at Modane station in Savoie, as a precaution. Some entrepreneurs also have to adapt.

I have already had to cancel several meetings because the fashion showrooms in Milan are all closed

This is for example the case of Tania, Franco-Italian business leader in the field of fashion. She runs a clothing store in Paris and a large part of her production is made in Italy. As a result, she makes regular business trips between Paris and Milan, where she was until Tuesday. She describes a desert town with schools closed for two weeks and completely empty churches and bars. “At Milan airport, the authorities created roadblocks and individuals in combination controlled each traveler. They said it was for the coronavirus, ”she says. The temperature of each traveler was controlled using a "forehead device" . On the other hand, no control took place on his arrival in Paris. This situation handicaps its activity. "I have already had to cancel several professional meetings because the fashion showrooms in Milan are all closed," she explains.

We wear masks and we wash our hands very regularly

At Milan Fashion Week, which took place from February 18 to 24, "it was panic on Sunday," says the employee of a Parisian company who was present with a colleague. "Everyone gave in to panic after the announcement of Armani, who presented his parade in camera and not in public," she continues. "We returned to France on Sunday, our temperatures were checked at Milan airport, but not at all in Paris ," she says. We never once asked ourselves whether or not to return to work. At the office on Monday, we learned from colleagues that 'HR is not happy that you are there'. We were sent a circular with the measures to follow, so now we wear masks and we wash our hands very regularly, but we are not teleworking. ”

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This week, the two colleagues are going to Paris Fashion Week, where the atmosphere "is a roller coaster: yesterday everyone was worried, today very little." If no one wears a protective mask during the event, "no one shakes hands or kisses," she notes. In this anxiety-provoking climate, however, there is good news for employees: people forced to be isolated for not transmitting the disease can be compensated by Medicare, and this from the first day.