A Third wave and a third Lock Down for France

 It is now one year that France is alternating lockdown, curfew, and uncertainty. With 99 000 cumulated deaths since the beginning of the crisis and contradictory crisis policies, France appeared weak in pandemic’s management. The French president Emmanuel Macron announced, on the 31st of March, the third lockdown for the country. Other variants of the Coronavirus are circulating in France since the beginning of the year 2021. Among those variants, the British, the South African, and the Brazilian variant can lead to a worse disease and are transmitted even faster than the original Covid-19 virus. Since this aggravation of the situation and the increasing number of cases, France decided to strengthen the restrictions and this third lockdown is an outside lockdown. Indeed, the rules are softer than the previous ones. Schools and nurseries are closed, the workers are teleworking and there is a curfew from 7 pm to 6 am. Besides this time slot, French people can circulate as they want within a radius of 10km from their housing. Thanks to stronger restrictions, and the increasing vaccinations, the Covid-19 cases are slowly decreasing in France. We count now around 8 536 Covid-19’s cases, and the country reached its objective of 10 thousand first vaccine’s dose last Thursday.

 It took time for the country to be honest with its people, but it seems that, at least, France learned from its mistakes. Some reproached France to don’t leave enough management’s power to the regional instance, and as a result, an efficient crisis management. On the contrary, Spain chose decentralized management. However, it doesn’t appear as the best choice either.

A vicious circle for Spain

 The trigger of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a turning point in the way the world operates and has dismantled the structural functioning of each country. Spain has been one of the countries most impacted by the pandemic. According to Business Insider, with 3.3 million cases, it is the ninth worst-affected country worldwide. The Spanish government has managed the situation poorly which has had negative spillover effects on the economy and society. Since May 2020, the country has had an intermittent lockdown with closed business and social distancing. Nonetheless, as the county is tourism￾dependent, the government always releases restrictions in vacation periods prioritizing the economy of the country. This poor management of the situation has brought Spain into a vicious cycle with no light at the end of the tunnel.

 France and Spain are not the only European country facing the crisis with difficulties. It appears that Europe, even if it is a significant power in the international scene, showed some weakness in balancing its priorities. Covid-19 pandemic is questioning the structural organization of old European countries. Stay tuned!

International Reporter•RUIZ YESTE MATHILDA•ruizmathilda@icloud.com

International Reporter•CARLA NAVARRO•carlatriola@gmail.com