 Hi everybody, this is Ethan Earl again. It is March 23rd at eight o'clock and what you were just listening to was the nightly around of applause for our City workers particularly in the health industries and in hospitals who are helping to take care of folks afflicted with coronavirus right now Today is the 7th day of confinement with most non-essential workers Encouraged to work from home and only allowed to leave with signed affidavits indicating that they're either going to work if necessary Getting groceries or medicine assisting in a family emergency or getting exercise in the vicinity of their home Yesterday I filled out my own affidavit and went for a run to get some exercise in the city is much emptier than I've ever seen it With nearly all stores closed and few people on the streets Normally walking alone or at most with their dog or one other person and typically maintaining a noticeable distance These people who do not choose to be in the streets find themselves particularly vulnerable in this moment at Place de la nation I saw one group of police officers Interrogating a man about his affidavit and I'm sorry though not surprised to report this person was a visibly working class in a Arab descent as Of today there have been nearly 16,000 cases registered in France with more than 5,000 in the Paris region with nearly 700 deaths France is the fifth most-touched country in the world behind Italy China Spain and Iran and just ahead of the United States and UK like with many countries the effects of the virus are not expected to peak until next week at earliest Meanwhile the government continues to debate exactly what measures to take in spite of early calls for solidarity and even the possible nationalization of essential sectors in practice President Macron's proposed measures have been More focused on corporate bailouts while providing little for the people who are the most affected by this crisis To give just two examples hospitals have still yet to receive any additional funding in spite of the crisis in which they Already found themselves pre coronavirus and construction workers are being forced to report to work to ensure that real estate schedules are met In Paris reports of rising housing and security and hunger are accompanied by reports of stores being looted for essential goods in the city center France's famous social welfare state suddenly appears incredibly insufficient in the wake of decades of austerity on slots And the country's government shows more appetite to quickly implement disaster capitalism measures than to assist the most Vulnerable people who as usual find themselves at the front lines of this crisis You