Matteo is a Franco-Italian journalist.
Faced with the increase in new cases of Covid and the spread of variants, the French government has chosen to reconfin, during the weekend, just the department of Pas-de-Calais, the Nice coast and the urban area of Dunkirk.
Italy has opted for a more muscular strategy.
This notwithstanding, between January 20 and February 24, a weekly average (*) of new cases remained around 11-14,000 per day.
A level well below that recorded in France over the same period.
South of the Alps, the situation worsened around February 25.
Since then, new cases have even passed the 20,000 threshold.
For the record in France, in the same periods, an average (*) of 18-20,000 cases per week was recorded.
On March 3, there were more than 26,000 new Covid patients.
The new President of the Council of Ministers, Mario Draghi, has decided not to waste time and has reproduced and improved upon the model of the extraordinary acts of government adopted by his predecessor Giuseppe Conte.
In his first decree dated March 2, the number one government of Rome “repainted” the twenty Italian regions in red, orange or yellow.
To these colors was added one, which has become synonymous with hope: white.
This color applies, for the moment, just to Sardinia.
On this island, life is almost back to normal.
The new restrictions will be in effect from March 6 to April 6, 2021.
It is very interesting to underline the choice made by the Italian executive to drastically limit travel between regions and, sometimes, even between municipalities.
This strategy had already been adopted during the holiday season.
The transalpine government has decided to act in close collaboration with the regions
In the red regions, the restrictions are tough and are reminiscent of those adopted in Italy during the first confinement.
Schools and universities remain closed, as well as restaurants.
In the orange regions, you cannot leave your municipality, except for exceptions related to work and health.
In the yellow zones, citizens do not have the right to leave their region of residence.
On the other hand, in these regions, museums are open on working days and, from March 27, also on public holidays, while respecting a system of gauges.
In addition, in the yellow areas, bars and restaurants can accommodate the public, with limitations.
It should also be noted that the transalpine government has decided to act in close collaboration with the regions.
Moreover, their presidents will be able to take decisions quickly, such as the closure of schools, without waiting for the green light from Rome.
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In France, the government has decided not to limit travel between regions or departments, even during school holidays.
The French have certainly been able to take their minds off their feet by joining holiday resorts, but for weeks their days have ended at 6 p.m., the time when the curfew begins.
With holidaymakers, the virus and its variants have, unfortunately, also toured France.
Once the holidays were over, the bill paid by some departments was very steep, as they were subject to curfew during the weekend.
Perhaps the French government could have thought about measures to limit traffic in order to stabilize the spread of the Covid at the local level.
This would perhaps have made it possible to reopen restaurants, museums and theaters, while respecting gauges.
Admittedly, the clientele would have been rather local, but, after all, money does not smell.
What does it matter if the addition of a dinner is paid by a resident of the neighborhood rather than by a tourist!
The executive could also have improved the effectiveness of the test campaign, in particular by also authorizing self-tests.
The idea of limiting travel within France was desired, perhaps also, by our European neighbors.
We have, moreover, witnessed a paradoxical situation.
That of a foreign government, the German one, which imposes de facto traffic restrictions on a department, the Moselle, affected by the explosion of variants of the Covid.
The executive could also have improved the effectiveness of the test campaign, in particular by also authorizing self-tests.
Moreover, the Minister of Health Olivier Veran recalled - during the press conference of March 4 - that “
isolation is often also implemented too late in the family unit because people are waiting for their return. test
”.
It would be interesting to compare the cost of the generalization of self-tests with those generated by the application of the curfew at 6 p.m. and on weekends.
For now, therefore, France and Italy are moving forward in the same way in the vaccination campaign.
For the rest, in the fight against Covid, their paths diverge.
The government of Rome will do everything to actively fight Covid, with restrictions and local reopening.
Too bad that a year later, we see that the French government is showing self-satisfaction even in the face of failures.
In addition, to ensure the smooth running of the vaccination campaign, Mr. Draghi has appointed an army general to the post of extraordinary commissioner for the Covid crisis.
The French executive, if we judge its announcements, seems to be intending to do everything to make “
the return to a more normal life (…) effective perhaps from mid-April
”.
But many French people still doubt the ability of the executive to keep this promise, which is very reminiscent of an electoral slogan.
Read also:
Covid-19: "France has done worse than its neighbors"
On the other hand, the date of the presidential and legislative elections is approaching.
Would there be a desire to take a few medals from the government and the parliamentary majority?
In any case, after the failures in the supply of masks, in the testing campaign and the missteps in that of vaccines, it is normal to have doubts.
Should France therefore be inspired by the strategy adopted by Mario Draghi in Italy?
Maybe she could copy some ideas.
Let us not forget that at the start of this health crisis Italy was struck by the Covid a few weeks ahead of France.
However, at the time, several French authorities had fallen behind by preferring to convince themselves of the invincibility of the French health system.
We saw what happened afterwards.
Too bad that a year later, we see that the French government is showing self-satisfaction even in the face of failures.
Hopefully this does not waste precious time again and that we also start to draw inspiration from success stories from abroad.
(*) The averages mentioned have been calculated by the special Google page dedicated to Covid-19
