“Five years later, everything is the same… only worse”

It was five years ago, to the day. The first official death from coronavirus was declared in China. Nobody imagined then that the world would stop shortly after. For the first time in the history of humanity, the entire planet was at a standstill, frozen, hit by the same crisis. Faced with the unknown, the dizziness was immense. We were looking for a culprit. Is it the fault of Doctor Mabuse having failed his laboratory experiment, of a pangolin hanging out on a market stall, of a bat? All eyes were on China.

Globalization was in the dock. Countries counted their deaths: more than 6 million in total in three years, including some 160,000 here. One thing was certain, it was assured then: nothing would ever be the same again. Tomorrow would be better than yesterday. Covid-19 would be a powerful accelerator of history and progress. At the Élysée, the President of the French Republic promised to « reinvent » !