The spread of the coronavirus in Bokale (Lapurdi) is difficult to keep secret. It is clear that, despite the great odds, direct connection cannot be tested. Yes, it is true that it can never be said that the organization of the first round of local elections on 15 March increased the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. But the testimonies of those who have found themselves ill in the days after the vote are multiplied, among them, the mandate to retain the polling offices, both of those affected and of the candidates. There are some testimonies that make it difficult for the link not to be made. One of Bokale's candidates is Francis Gonzalez's who, by the coronavirus, has been in resuscitation since March 28 and is not the only one: others on the list are also in resuscitation, wrong and in total there are eleven candidates in his favor with the coronavirus, many of which have been tested positively. There have also been some cases of infectious diseases on the counter list. Among them was Marie-Ange Thebaud, a member of the environmental coalition, who was hospitalized on 22 March. He has left the hospital in Baiona, where he was admitted since last Monday. We've tried to get together, but he doesn't accept conversations, because his body is weak and on the path of acceleration, the best remedy is to sleep the day. He accepted a single interview, it was in the newspaper Sud Ouest, where he pointed out that this virus is “a filth”, remembering the importance of staying at home.

This was not said on 15 March, when the first round of local elections was held – on the eve of the decision on forced confinement in the French State. According to Thebaud, the protective measures were not taken correctly: “I washed my hands, kept my distance. We probably needed face masks and gloves at the polling stations and it’s true we didn’t have them.” At the end of the first lap, he was not ill or at least had no symptoms. What is true is that: “Many voters have been infected before the first round. We’ve been in contact with the population and if we haven’t protected everyone enough, there may have been contamination,” says physician and coach Gilles Lassabe, who has been infected.

At best, the vote respected the protective measures – a distance of one metre, a hydroalcoholic solution on the table, measures not to disturb the ridicule of the ballot box, to be able to sign with the style brought from home or to use voting paper from home. But relying on dozens of testimonies, that was not always respected in many peoples either. However, at the time of the scrutiny, all measures had been shaken. It is enough to look at the photographs that account for the story to reach this conclusion. Large and small towns, in all of them we have the same image: dozens of people piled up, without gloves or masks, manipulating ballot papers and commenting on the results closely. The night of the vote count was between 50 and 80 people accumulated at the Bokale Voting Office, which provided a good opportunity to move from one virus to another.

Whoever does not want to join will not, but what is clear is that the epidemic has spread at a high speed in the village of Bokale, which has 8,300 inhabitants. As can be seen in Sud Ouest, the doctor in the city of Lassabe diagnoses an average of three cases of coronavirus daily. It’s a lot for Ipar Euskal Herria, who for now is “little” of the plague. On 2 April, Lassve learned that the Prefect of the Atlantic Pyrenees had filed a complaint against him for continuing to work even with coronavirus. The doctor is “surprised”, “annoying” and angry. Tell Fermuki: “I got the test on March 11, I got the positive result on March 13 and since then I have been isolated for 14 days. I couldn’t hold the voting office and I didn’t go to vote.”

The government of Emmanuel Macron relied on the recommendation of the Scientific Council on the Coronavirus of March 12 to keep the vote: That the first round could have been made “respecting health conditions” and “there are no scientific arguments to indicate that there will be more risks than in other daily activities (when voted)”. However, he rejected the second round the next day. The culprits are therefore not the ones who kept the voting spaces, but the French Government which took the decision to hold the elections.

The candidate for Saint-Fons, Chafia Zehmoul, has filed a complaint against Prime Minister Edouard Philippe for the presence of numerous coronavirus cases on her list.

600 nurses and doctors reported

More than 600 doctors and nurses have denounced the Prime Minister and former Minister of Health, Agnès Buzyn for "false state". The step was taken on 19 March. “If they knew the danger and had the power to avoid it, they decided not to drive it.” Among other things, they base their complaint on the interview Buzyn gave to the newspaper Le Monde on 17 March, in which he acknowledges that he had heard of the severity of the plague since January and that he then informed the Government that no elections could be held. These doctors and nurses are clear: the cancellation of votes “would certainly have limited the epidemic, reducing the number of people infected and, therefore, the number of people infected”.

In addition, results may be reversed

If the second round is delayed, the results of the first round could be cancelled and everything would have to start again. The advice of the people would be maintained from the first round, but in all other towns the first round should be repeated. The agreement will depend on the date of the second vote: if it is held until 28 June, the results of the first round will be retained, if later, annulled, forced by law. Although Macron cited as the date of the second vote on 21 June, it seems that on 1 April, relying on what several ministers were saying, it is logical to delay October, as the end of the confinement should be “progressively”.

At least, the reality of Bokale has a certain lesson: it shows us the need for containment to limit the spread of plague. Another lesson is that maintaining the first return to peoples did not help limit the spread of the plague. Dominique Lavigne, the only candidate who has not detected the virus in the Mayor of Bokale's list, acknowledges Sud Ouest: “In the end, the fact that abstention has set the record has been very good.”