No social distancing for Emmanuel Macron during a visit to a medical center in Pantin, April 7, 2020. – SIPA / SIPA
A presidential visit but no social distancing. Under the eye of smartphones and its protection service,
Emmanuel Macron greeted passersby on Tuesday in Pantin, in
Seine-Saint Denis. This proximity between the President of the Republic and these fellow citizens moved and was criticized at a time when, to avoid the spread of the coronavirus, we demand 1 meter of social distance. Government spokesperson,
Sibeth Ndiaye, Tried, this Wednesday, to clear the nascent controversy.
The president “obviously did not seek to provoke this gathering, he wished to greet the citizens who were in particular at their windows. There were notably young people who came down around him. […] He obviously has the vocation of always respecting barrier gestures and he had the opportunity, at that time, to remind those around him, “said the government spokesperson at the end of the Council of Ministers.
. @EmmanuelMacron strolls around twenty meters in the streets of Pantin. And finds itself facing a handful of agglutinated inhabitants @LCI @ TF1LeJT JB Alphonse Images pic.twitter.com/Yqbpgz5Z7I
– Bastien Augey (@AugeyBastien) April 7, 2020
Thirty to forty people then gathered around the President
Sibeth Ndiaye also assured that each visit of the president was “organized so as to obviously respect health precautions”. However, she ruled out the possibility of the head of state reducing his trips. The Elysee Palace told AFP that the head of state “would prosecute” them in order to “show his support and gratitude to those mobilized in this fight” against the Covid-19.
After visiting a Tuesday nursing home Puppet, in which he had removed the mask he wore when entering, Emmanuel Macron greeted at length from below the building of people who went out to balconies, according to the AFP journalist on the spot.
While his car was waiting for him, ready to leave for La Courneuve, the president then left on foot in a perpendicular street where many people passed despite the confinement. Thirty to forty people then gathered around the head of state, many photographing him with a smartphone in his hand, with cries sometimes of encouragement but also of protest.
Opponents divert government message
The head of state stayed for about five minutes in front of this small group, saying to them with a smile, his hands clasped in an Indian greeting: “I know it’s hard but you have to hold on, respect the rules” or again, extending his arm: “you are too close there.” The images of this meeting were filmed by LCI and by many Internet users, which prompted many comments on social networks.
The National Gathering hijacked the government’s coronavirus prevention message on Wednesday, saying on Twitter: “Do not do like Macron: respect a meter away from anyone, do not cause crowds and stay at home”. Its president Marine Le Pen had the day before deemed “dismaying” this gathering.
“Another 1,427 deaths from the Covid-19 today, and Macron is going to be a mask-free crowd.” But what a puppet! “, Tweeted the Yellow Vest support of Debout la France, Benjamin Cauchy.
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