Virginie Saint-Marc is press officer to Professor Salomon at the General Directorate of Health in Paris. With the Covid-19 crisis, his work took a new turn. She is the one who every evening asks journalists questions to Jérôme Salomon. She tells us about her upset daily life, behind the scenes of the Directorate General for Health and how she is going through the crisis confined to Paris while thinking of “her South”. And for that, she can count on her colleague Aveyronnais …
“A question for Medisite… “You have already heard this voice with a slight accent from the South-West on TV. The one asking journalists questions to Jérôme Salomon every evening at 7:30 p.m. during the press conference. Since the start of the crisis from Covid-19, Virginie Saint-Marc is on the front line. Both in the light and in the shade. The one who was born in Toulouse and was a high school student in Emilie De Rodat is press officer to Jérôme Salomon at the General Directorate of Health for four years.
But since March, the daily life of this Toulousaine took a new turn. “I have been integrated into the crisis center in the communications department, I continue to manage relations with the press, but requests have exploded: we receive a hundred a day, or even 200 to 300 on busy days”, explains the 31-year-old young woman. To meet media demand, reinforcement has arrived at the communications department of the DGS. “We ramped up in terms of press response, usually there are two of us in my department, right now there are 5 of us and between 12 and 15 in the communications department, we work in a large room with a chair apart between us, “explains Virginie.
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Her father advises her from a distance
The organization has changed: “The hours are heavier, it was not tenable for two, we work seven days a week taking turns.” Because to all his daily tasks was added a mission that put him in the spotlight: the press conference of Jérôme Salomon during which the professor presents every evening, off-camera, the daily assessment of the epidemic in France. Every day, Virginie Saint-Marc asks Jérôme Salomon the questions of journalists who cannot be present, confinement requires. “There are a maximum of three of us in this room, with at least a meter of distance between us, there is Professor Salomon, the cameraman and myself”, specifies Virginie who tries to hide her accent on the air.
Virginie Saint-Marc.
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A new exercise scrutinized closely every evening on TV by his loved ones. Starting with his father: “He follows press conferences every evening and gives me advice”. One evening, after the press conference, he said to him: “When you asked all the questions, there is a blank and Professor Salomon is a little embarrassed, he does not know if it is finished, it is better to do otherwise and specify that it is the last question, you indicate that it is finished and you thank, it will be easier for him “. Virginie listened to him. There is no longer any annoying white.
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The warmth of the South West in its service
Among the reinforcements from other ministries to join the press service is Antonin Lamberty-Garric. He works with Virginie and has one major point in common: Antonin also comes from the southwest. From Aveyron, more precisely: “I am from Villefranche-de-Rouergue and I studied in Toulouse in a business school, I spent five wonderful years there, I had a real boost heart for this city, “he says. The rest of the time, Antonin, 33, is director of communications for the Mildeca (Interministerial Mission to Combat Drugs and Addictive Behaviors), a service attached to the Prime Minister. He volunteered at the beginning of March to help the DGS communication service.
Antonin Lamberty-Garric.
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When he met Virginie nine months ago, he understood immediately: “She immediately recognized that I came from Toulouse to my accent, in the service we are the only two in the South West, inevitably, it tightens ties and that brings us good team cohesion and in this difficult context, it is welcome. ” Virginie and Antonin keep saying “chocolatine” and “covering” people from the south-east. In their office with a view of the Eiffel Tower, it’s their way of coping with the crisis by remembering the South they lack. “Coming back to Occitania for the holidays plumps me up, there is a light that does not exist anywhere else, a sun which restores morale,” says Antonin. In Viriginie, he misses “the climate, the simplicity and the way of living”. So when we called Wednesday April 29 to ask Jérôme Salomon a question about a possible link between Kawasaki disease and Covid-19, we didn’t expect such a warm welcome. “We dreamed of having a question about the Dispatch from the South since the beginning of the crisis, to have the pleasure of saying it out loud in front of the professor, “slip Virginie. On the phone, when we introduced ourselves, Virginie marked a blank and put us on hold:” At this then I said to Antonin: that’s it, it’s The Dispatch, I uttered a cry of joy “. Today, Antonin and Virginie are in the Dépêche du Midi. The circle is complete.
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