A surprise item was added to the Christmas list at the end of the year. Between the log and the gifts, the PCR test has become essential. "
I
've been
waiting for half an hour
," groans Marina, who had yet "
made an appointment
" for this Thursday morning. This resident of the 12th arrondissement of Paris still does not know if she will be able to celebrate family holidays, as planned, on the Côte d'Azur. “
The departure is scheduled for tomorrow, we’re crossing our fingers!
". In front of the red tent on rue de Charronne, the line of nearly 100 meters is always full. "
You too, is it for a contact case?" - No, I have symptoms
".
In the queue, feverish, the inhabitants of the 12th arrondissement, wrapped in their scarves, await the verdict to spend a serene Christmas.
Read also Covid-19 screening tests: laboratories sound the alarm
Because the fifth wave turns the party upside down once again. On D-3, it is the rush in the French laboratories, where the rate reached nearly 900,000 antigenic tests and PCR daily. After celebrations under incessant invective from the authorities last year, the French finally hoped for a serene winter. The ace ! “
The Covid upset Christmas,
”
laments
Matthieu, 41. When he felt he was losing his sense of smell three days ago, he understood straight away. The screening confirmed his fears. Officially positive since Monday, the father was forced to cancel his departure to the South West. "
I am however double-vaccinated, I have been taking my precautions for two years, and paf! Now it comes at the worst time
”.
The holidays, definitely ruined, will be spent in his Parisian two-room apartment. How does he see December 25? It will be a VOD film, a video call with his 5-year-old son who is doing quite well with his mother, and a good meal ordered from home. "
Something simple, but we'll try to have fun anyway!"
», Matthew resolves, willy-nilly. "
There is no point in dramatizing things, after all, it gets worse
".
Worse, it is perhaps the situation of Lorraine, 26 years old. “
With me, everything always happens at the same time,
” she tells us, laughing from the family home in Lomener, in Morbihan, where she is isolated. “
My TV gave up on me, which never happens. My computer charger remained in Paris… and the one for my phone was stolen!
". While waiting for her mother's chronopost, Lorraine drives around in the car to charge the laptop with a piece of cable. A friend drops her groceries at the door. In the meantime, the young girl projects herself into this forced ten-day retreat. While her family and friends feast, she will update her paperwork, learn the ukulele, explore Netflix. "
Forced vacations are good
“, However, assures the Breton, optimistic despite everything.
Certainly, she will not see her brother returned from the United States, nor her grandmother who loves having her grandchildren around her so much.
“
But I'm not going to go back to my family and confine everyone, that wouldn't make sense,
” she says.
"
We don't change anything
"
Guillaume, he is intractable: at his table, it is detected that we will present ourselves, or we will not come. As a result, “
we were supposed to be at four on the evening of the 24th, but we will only be two: self-test refusal by our guests. We are not going to get angry, but family or not, the important thing is to protect ourselves!
". While some put caution first, others are less scrupulous. The Christmas truce also exists in times of health crisis! “
Christmas will always be Christmas. We don't change anything, we keep everything,
”comments Caroline, an Internet user, for example. And to list: "T
he big, comforting snacks by the fireside, grandmother's stories in the evening, the chocolate log with its little plastic elves on it, the laughter during board games ...
".
Everything will be there to keep the magic of Christmas intact.
Like a parenthesis in this covid world.
"
Even if it means dying one day, be it for love
", the lyrical mother flies away.