Coronavirus in France: Macron says “zero risk” is not the answer
In an interview given to the magazine Paris Match, the President quotes a famous aviator to oppose the “zero risk doctrine” about Covid-19.
If there is one message that the Head of State wanted to deliver through the interview he gave to Paris Match in the summer residence of Fort Brégançon, it is this: no, France should not lockdown again, as it did in March, to deal with the coronavirus. Even though there has been an upsurge in infections, which alarms the health authorities.
“What we want to avoid is being overwhelmed. We have very focused strategies, like what happened in Mayenne, which can go as far as a localised lockdown that could be set up if the situation required it,” said Emmanuel Macron. This confirms the opinion of Prime Minister Jean Castex, who is promoting, above all, local guidelines that are not universally effective throughout the country.
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This news is not really a surprise, as the French authorities want to avoid at all costs a “generalised lockdown” for economic reasons. However, the way the President of the Republic has described the situation is in line with the arguments of those who argue for a relaxation of the rules in favour of collective responsibility.
“We can’t put the country on hold, because the collateral damage of confinement is tremendous. Zero risk never exists in a society. We must respond to this anxiety without falling into the doctrine of zero risk,” explained the Élysée Palace resident.
The Howard Hughes case
To further show his point, Emmanuel Macron quoted to the weekly magazine the case of billionaire aviator Howard Hughes, whose life was chronicled in the movie The Aviator.
Because of mental disorders that led him to develop a phobia of germs, this pioneer of civil aviation ended his life reclusive, reluctant to cut his nails and hair for fear of catching diseases.
Calendar coincidence (or not), this example was served on August 15 by Olivier Servais, professor of anthropology, and François Gemenne, political science researcher, in the Belgian daily newspaper Le Soir.
The title of this article, which was widely shared on Twitter? “Covid-19 crisis: the tyranny of zero risk”.
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In this article, which strangely echoes the position expressed by Emmanuel Macron, academics are asking: “Can we really set ourselves the goal to definitively extinguish the epidemic, to eliminate the virus from society? We believe that the social costs of this undertaking are infinitely greater than the health benefits we could expect. We believe that zero risk is a destructive chimaera and that we must accept that the virus will continue to spread in society in a minimal and calculated way.”
Which is exactly what Emmanuel Macron explained to Paris Match. Actually, for several weeks now, this “zero risk doctrine”, considered alarmist and counter-productive, has been contested, including in the medical community.
At the beginning of August, when the first signs of an epidemic resurgence were emerging, epidemiologist Antoine Flahault pointed out the “anxiety,” that this doctrine causes in society. “It is leading to a gradual shift away from the initial aim (to avoid overcrowding in intensive care units) towards the goal of suppressing the spread of the virus at the lowest level,” he told AFP.
“We are moving from a risk that was deemed acceptable, and that we were trying to control to a doctrine of zero risk.” These concerns have reached the ears of Emmanuel Macron.