A poll has revealed that just 35 per cent of the French public are confident in the actions undertaken by President Emmanuel Macron’s government to tackle the outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus.
The poll, conducted by firm BVA and published by broadcaster Europe 1 came after a speech delivered by French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and Health Minister Olivier Véran on Sunday on the current state of the country.
Revealing that trust in the government’s handling of coronavirus had fallen over the weekend, just 35 per cent say they have confidence in the government’s actions, down from 37 per cent as measured on Friday. A minority, 39 per cent, said they were not confident in the quality of the information public authorities were giving them.
BVA stated that there was a significant disparity in confidence between those who can work from home and those who continue to work under the same conditions as before the lockdown, with confidence levels of 43 per cent and 29 per cent respectively.
Morale among French households is said to be improving, BVA stated, but noted that just 13 per cent of French were confident about the county’s overall economic situation.
In recent weeks, France has seen a surge in coronavirus cases and deaths. There have been nearly 160,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and over 20,000 fatalities, behind only Spain and Italy in Europe.
The government has also had issues with enforcing the strict lockdown measures in some areas of the country, particularly the “vulnerable” suburban neighbourhoods.
In the department of Yvelines, gangs of local “youths” have attacked police almost daily for the past two weeks. Others have sounded alarms over the possibility of further escalating violence due to lockdown measures resulting in a shortage of street drugs.