“We are only at the beginning of this epidemic,” the president continued. “What this pandemic reveals is that free health care without restrictions of income, career or job are not costs, but precious assets, indispensable advantages when fate strikes,” Mr. Macron said in his speech. He promised “massive” state aid for those unable to work. “The state will take on the indemnification of workers forced to stay at home,” Mr. Macron said, but he did not talk about the costs. The mix of warning and reassurance from the president perhaps bolstered Parisian insouciance, and was clearly not dead by Sunday.

Source: New York Times March 15, 2020 20:48 UTC