CORONAVIRUS, FOCUS ON CORSICA | JT 19.45 | M6

Miserere nostri domine. It’s a statue that Corsicans bring out when hope is dwindling. Miserere nostri, the Black Christ of Calvi is believed to have kept the invading Turk at bay. He is even said to have defeated the plague. So why not Coronavirus? A few hours before the whole of Corsica went into lockdown, the brothers of Calvi prayed to God above their city. Six days later, a French navy helicopter ship, La Tonnerre (Thunder), sails into Ajaccio bay after a mission in Mozambique. A sort of floating hospital, re-purposed from stem to stern to be capable of evacuating twelve coronavirus patients in just a few hours. The objective is clear: relieve the Ajaccio hospital. The service is increasing the number of reanimation beds. And fortunately so, because hardly had the twelve patients been evacuated than ten new cases arrived… Doctors, nurses, auxiliaries, independent nurses, police, gendarmes and residents are all fighting back and trying every means to stop the advance of the pandemic and remain true to Corsica’s motto: “Often conquered… but never subdued”.