French Culture – Curfew Part 2 Posted by Tim Hildreth on Oct 27, 2020 in Culture, Language
If you’re like me, you probably have at least a little Covid fatigue1fatigue … which comes to use from the French word fatiguer / to tire, make weary. I was hoping to move on this week and turn back to non-Covid issues, but as France continues to deal with the pandemic, it felt import to spend one more week on the latest updates. La semaine prochaine I promise something else!
Expanding the curfew
As I reported last week, France initiated a curfew in an effort to slow the spread of Covid-19. After just a few days … and plus de un million de cas de Covid-19 depuis le début de la pandémie (more than a million cases of Covid since the beginning of the pandemic) … that couvre-feu has been extended to 54 departments and over 46 million people. “Plus de deux Français sur trois sont désormais sommés de rester chez eux le soir. » (more than 2 out of 3 French are now called to stay home at night.)
Le Coronavirus touche aussi les Français vivant à l’étranger
Comme on voit dans cette vidéo, les Français expatriés sont touchés eux aussi. Que ce soit Elsa, guide touristique au Brésil qui manque de clients ; Pascaline en Inde qui a du mal à maintenir l’activité de son restaurant ; ou Manuéline à Sydney en Australie qui se sent isolée de sa famille et ses amis en France après deux ans ; la Covid a changé bien des vies. Il n’y a que Grégoire, au Taiwan, pour qui la vie est resté plus ou moins normal suite à la fermeture totale des frontières qui a permis à l’île de rester à l’abri de la virus.
Ouvrez
As you can see from this video, French expats are impacted too. Whether Elsa, tour guide in Brazil with no clients; Pascaline in India who is struggling to keep her restaurant going; or Manueline in Sydney Australia who feels isolated after two years without her family and friends in France; Covid has change many lives. Only for Gregoire, in Taiwan, has life remained mostly the same following a total shutdown of the borders which allowed the island to keep the virus away.]
Vers un deuxième confinement?
Despite these renewed efforts it now looks like France may be headed for a second confinement. Armed with greater knowledge, scientists are proposing new options though to avoid a full shutdown like the spring. They envisage everything from:
- un couvre-feu renforcé – a reinforcing of the curfew, which might start earlier or even be extended to full weekend closures,
- le confinement écocompatible – an “economic-compatible” lockdown, that would be targeted to certain activities,
- des confinements ciblés – targeted lockdowns, that would only impact certain groups (comme les personnes âgées/like older people) or certain regions.
The government is expected to come out with their next recommandations as early as demain (tomorrow).
A nod to Halloween
While it will likely be very different Halloween from years past, Halloween is this weekend. I haven’t talked about it this year, but if you want to read a bit about Halloween in France, you might like some of these legacy posts.
For a little useful vocabulary and a fun song …
- 1fatigue … which comes to use from the French word fatiguer / to tire, make weary
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About the Author: Tim Hildreth
Since my first trip to France at 16, I have been a passionate francophile. I love the language, food, music, art, people, and more that make France and la Francophonie in general such an amazing part of our global community. Having lived in France and studied the language and culture for over 35 years, it is my great pleasure to be able to share a little bit of my deep love with you through this blog.