Living through a pandemic

in the south of France

404 days since the 1st lockdown in March 2020

▫️ DAILY AND WEEKLY STATISTICS HERE .

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● Will the Carcassonne Festival take place?

Will the concerts and other summer shows organised in the heart of the city be maintained in 2021? These are the questions that everyone in Carcassonne is asking. “There will be no decision before the end of the week”, says Pascal Dupont, director and programmer of the festival.

Pending an address by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, normally on Thursday 29 April, and a meeting the following day with the Mayor of the City, Gérard Larrat, Pascal Dupont is waiting for “very precise instructions and concrete information” before announcing whether or not the 15th edition of the Festival will be held.

As a reminder, the 2020 edition was purely and simply cancelled.

● The EU launches legal action against AstraZeneca.

The European Union is accusing the Swedish-British laboratory of not having kept its commitments on the delivery of its vaccine. “The terms of the contract have not been respected and the company has not been in a position to implement a reliable strategy to ensure timely deliveries,” said a spokesperson for the EU executive.

● INSEE

The provisional data of total deaths in France 🇫🇷 (all causes) for January & February 2021 is now available:

● TOURISM

Vaccinated Americans 🇺🇸 will be able to travel to Europe, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced.

Closed since January 29 to non-European citizens, Europe’s borders should reopen to American tourists.

While the United States has advised its citizens against visiting most European Union countries for more than a year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Sunday that tourists from the United States will be allowed to visit the European Union in the coming months on condition that they are vaccinated against Covid-19.

“The Americans, as far as I can see, are using vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA),” she explained in an interview with the New York Times. “This will allow free movement and travel to the European Union,” she said, without revealing a precise timetable.

● Traffic restrictions eased from 3 May
As of 3 May 2021, the daytime travel restrictions that have been in force throughout the country since the beginning of the month will be lifted. It will therefore be possible to travel freely more than 10 km from home. The curfew will be maintained.

● BLM

I fail to understand why it is going to take so long to have a sentence. I believe not before mid-June has been announced!

This cop has been found guilty, simple as that and justifiably so as far as I am concerned.

Wether M. Floyd was a bad guy or not ( I cannot judge) is neither here nor there. In our so-called developped countries it is up to the police to bring delinquants to the justice and not do the justice themselves.

On the subject I found this article:

World pleasantly surprised as man filmed committing entire murder found guilty of it

21st April 2021

THE world has been pleasantly surprised that an American policeman who was filmed committing a murder, from start to finish, was actually found guilty of it.

The conviction of Derek Chauvin on counts of murder and manslaughter has surprised everyone who assumed that even though his cold-blooded murder of George Floyd was recorded comprehensively from several angles he might still get away with it.

Will McKay of Birmingham said: “Well. Convicted on all three counts and spending the rest of his life behind bars. I have to admit I wasn’t expecting that.

“Of course the man was clearly guilty and had no real defence, but he was a white cop and the victim was black and this is America, so there was plenty of room for doubt.

“Perhaps this will even set a new evidential standard so the next policeman filmed blatantly murdering an innocent citizen on camera, not even trying to hide it, will also be convicted. I mean you can dream.

“Then that’ll only leave all the cases that don’t happen on an open street in broad daylight, that aren’t filmed in their entirety, and where the victim isn’t unarmed and handcuffed throughout the whole thing.

“In those the cop will obviously get off and return to the streets to kill again. Still, baby steps.”

● WEC – World Endurance Championship

The season is opening this coming weekend with the 1st race in Spa Francorchamps. I wish I could be there but the travel restrictions forbid it. The SPA 6 hours race also serves as a major test bed in preparation for the Le Mans 24h race usually taking place in June. Of course this year it has been postponned till August and possibly no spectators.