Like many, I had hoped that we wouldn’t be talking about Covid anymore. While there are signs of hope, there are concerning signs too especially in Europe. So where is France with Covid one year later?

[CC0] Photo by Elina Sazonova from Pexels

Le bilan

What does the balance sheet look like one year on? As of March 21, 2020, France had reported 4 282 603 cas¹cases and 92 305 décès.²deaths The average daily rate of deaths is down significantly from the peak in avril³April 2020 as well as the second wave in novembre⁴November2020, but still concerning enough that France is headed into …

Un troisième confinement

Since they have not seen the reductions in Covid cases they would like, the government of Emmanuel Macron has instituted a third confinement across 16 departments for four weeks à compter de vendredi 19 mars à minuit⁵starting at midnight on March 19th.

While outdoor travel is allowed during the day within 10 kilometers of a primary residence, une attestation is still required in some cases … but not in others … leaving the French more than a bit confused. From where I sit, this nouveau confinement seems a bit more like the earlier couvre-feu that allowed people to leave their homes during the day.

You can watch a recording of the presentation in which Premier ministre⁶Prime Minister Jean Castex announced de nouvelles mesures de confinement⁷new confinement measures here.

Le ou la Covid bis

Last May Bridgette⁸who had just joined us here on the French blog! shared a post explaining how the Académie Française had declared that le Covid-19 was actually LA Covid-19. Turns out that not everyone got the memo!

According to a recent poll by IFOP la question de son genre ne semble toujour pas avoir été tranchée⁹the question of gender is seemingly still not decided. According to a survey of 1,048 people, over 80% of French people still say le Covid … despite the fact that 57% say that “Covid n’est correct qu’au féminin“¹⁰Covid is only right when it’s feminine!

How to explain this discrepancy? For those who lean masculine, 38% say it is simply because that’s what everyone used when the pandemic started. For those who lean feminine, 26% percent do so because the Academy said so.

Un peu de distraction

Let’s end on a lighter note.

I just finished a wonderful little French série télévisée¹¹television series called Dix pour cent (Call My Agent in English). Originally airing on the French chaine de télévision¹²tv channel France 2, all four saisons¹³seasons are available on Netflix. Named for the 10% commission that agents collect from their stars, the show tells the story of 4 agents and their assistants at the fictional agence artistique¹⁴talent agency, ASK, in Paris.

If you’re looking for more ways to practice your French skills while enjoying some truly beautiful footage of Paris … and enjoying some truly great guest spots from real French (and one American) movie stars (playing amped up versions of themselves) … this is a great option for you.

One note: the French flies fast and furious in each episode. Be prepared to watch the episodes twice, or to leverage the closed captioning (I recommend trying it with the French closed captions on).

My only regret is that – with just 6 episodes per season – it was over too fast!

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