In Europe, and around the world, governments are getting tougher
But what happens when restrictions slip?
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SOMETIMES PEOPLE can be a bit of a disappointment to their politicians. On March 12th Emmanuel Macron, addressing the French nation on the fight against covid-19, appealed to their sense of “national solidarity”. In asking them to follow basic health advice and stay at home as much as possible, the president said, he was counting on their “individual and collective discipline”. Individually and collectively, much of the country went on to spend a rather sunny early spring weekend wandering around parks with friends and shopping in crowded street markets. Mr Macron returned to their television screens on March 16th singularly unimpressed. “Not only are you not protecting yourselves,” he admonished the nation: “You are not protecting others.”
This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline "The lockdown and the long haul"
From the March 21st 2020 edition
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