The storm finally gave way to calm. After the first images showing shelves of empty stores and tense customers, things seem to calm down on Tuesday, a few hours after the start of the containment ordered by the government. Traders, supermarkets and customers have adapted themselves so that daily shopping takes place in the best possible conditions, and limiting as much as possible the spread of the virus. With a few hiccups, locally.
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In the streets of Paris, calm reigned on Tuesday: while walking, we only encountered a few people, many of whom covered their faces as best they could, who with a surgeon's mask, yet not very protective against the coronavirus, who with his scarf. Many traders in the capital had taken steps to deal with the epidemic. Each in its own way: some have drastically limited the number of authorized customers in their premises at the same time. " Thank you for entering the shop one by one ", could be read on the window of a bakery, when another limited the number of customers to " three at a time ". Result: in front of a Carrefour store, a short line of people, keeping a respectable distance between them, meandered down the street. Bag in hand, customers waited in silence for people to leave the store, before rushing in their turn.
A sign on the window of a store in Paris this Tuesday Wladimir Garcin-Berson / Le Figaro
Some were even more demanding: many shops had barricaded their entrance, asking consumers to stay outside, where they would be served. A means like any other to respect the safety distances, judged the employees: " they will be cold, but it is better than nothing, it is for our own protection and theirs at the same time ", smiled the owner of a grocery store, near Barbès. In parallel, the famous barrier gestures were reminded by traders to customers, sometimes even before they entered the premises: " can you space yourself, for example at the level of stools?" Thank you for your kindness ! Had thus posted the manager of a grocery store in the 9th arrondissement.
" Customers were worried "
But not everyone is so watchful. Leaving to do his shopping at Leclerc de Blagnac, near Toulouse, in the morning, Guillaume says he saw " no measures concerning the limitation to a maximum of one hundred people " inside the store. On social networks, some are also indignant at " endless queues ", in which customers did not respect basic safety instructions.
The inventory situation is also changing according to the stores, which have faced mass precautionary purchases in recent days. In Paris, it is not uncommon to come across shelves of pasta, bread, dairy products, meat and hygienic or baby products that are completely empty. In Lyon, however, Olivier explains that he saw no shortage at Picard, and no limitation on the number of people there either. At the Leclerc hypermarket in Moisselles, Helmi says he saw a deserted store, with "a few empty shelves ", including pasta and toilet paper. On Twitter, many users describe having returned home after having come across " empty shelves, looted the day before ."
Without causing a major panic, fear of the epidemic remains in everyone's mind. At Blagnac, Guillaume reports a tense atmosphere: " the customers were worried and wanted to return before 12 noon ", the time when confinement began. In the morning, images of conflicting situations were circulating on social networks, a sign that consumers were not necessarily ready for the start of confinement. In Tôtes, in Seine-Maritime, Hélène recounts a heavy atmosphere at the local Intermarché. Few people, some rays robbed but " people looked at each other out of the eye ", anxious not to be too close to each other. " I washed my hands with hydroalcoholic gel before and after my races, but I don't think it is really effective, as we touch the products during our races, and again when we put them away and use ", wonders she.
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To reassure customers and workers alike, additional precautions are taken by retailers on a case-by-case basis. " An employee of the store wears a mask, on the other hand, and this since yesterday ", describes the Lyonnais Olivier. Same observation in a Franprix store in Paris, near Saint-Lazare station, where the cashiers wear masks and gloves. " We will keep them as long as the crisis lasts, " they explain, laughing. " All the staff were wearing gloves, " adds Hélène, mentioning " plexiglass plates " installed in front of the cashiers to limit contact with customers.
Faced with the epidemic, the panic of the first days therefore seems to give way to reorganization. For their part, the professionals promise to use all their strength to avoid shortages. The latter should not last, if - and this is the big unknown - consumers behave in a responsible manner, as Emmanuel Macron reminded last night.