Seventy-six days and counting

What were some of the moments that left the strongest impressions?

The most surprising moments were obviously the first days of the absolute closure of the city, when we didn't really know what was going on. There was also this moment of panic on January 23rd at 10am, when the phones were ringing all over the place because there were people trying to escape from Wuhan all day long – with some rather tragi-comic moments with people who were using small roads and who finally found themselves, after having managed to get out of the town, stuck in fields because they had taken secondary roads or even dirt roads. It was the fear of being locked up.

One tragic moment for me was certainly this image of a husband and wife who were both intubated in a hospital. They were among the first patients, both in their 70s or 80s. They looked at each other, with tubes all over the place, and the husband said a last goodbye to his wife because they both knew they were probably going to die. It was one of the most poignant episodes I have ever seen.

Then there's this other image of a little boy who must have been five years old. At the very beginning of this confinement that lasted 76 days, his grandfather said, "We mustn't go out because there's an invisible killer in the city and we have to stay in the apartment." One day, a man came to take temperatures in the building, as was done every week. He knocked on the door and asked the little boy where his grandfather was; the little one answered that he was is in the bedroom but wasn't moving. What's tragic is that the grandfather had been dead for five days – and certainly not from the coronavirus. But the little boy continued to hear his grandfather's words telling him not to go out, so he didn't go out for five days to tell someone. He ate cookies next to his dead grandfather's body. It's a very, very sad thing, and it's part of this Wuhan tragedy that will sadly mark this city for years to come…

Were there scary moments for you?

There was one very high point and that was when we went to one of the hospitals in the emergency department, where they were treating the people most affected by the coronavirus. It's the wing of the hospital that was inaugurated by President Jacques Chirac as part of the Franco-Chinese medical cooperation. Dr Zhao Yan, who is in charge of this unit, showed us around this emergency department and told us that most patients have a 50% chance of survival – and that if they were in another hospital in the city, they would probably already be dead… This is particularly poignant and sad.

It was a very difficult moment – from a journalistic point of view, exciting to be able to enter a hospital, but also scary on the other hand. We were made to put on two layers of suits, two pairs of gloves, hairnets, masks, visors… it's always quite worrying. Dr Zhao told us that since we were obviously in a "virus nest", we were only going to stay 20 minutes and after that we would have to leave for our own safety. We filmed and did interviews, and when I looked at the clock, I saw that 40 minutes had passed. I asked him if it was okay; he looked at me and I imagine he had a big smile on behind his mask, saying "Yes, don't worry, it's okay."

What was quite impressive – and again quite incredible – was all these doctors and nurses who worked night and day, who slept in the clinics and hospitals to take care of all these patients. They told us that at the beginning, they wore adult diapers to keep them going for eight hours straight; to stay on deck, they didn't eat or drink so they didn't have to go to the bathroom – and that was so they didn't have to change their suits, because if you take the suit off, you have to throw it away and put on another one. 

At first, they were short of materials. They weren't well-prepared. I found it to be absolutely incredible courage and self-sacrifice; they were dedicated in this war to fight this disease. Truly men and women of courage, of honor – it was very touching for me. I had read that they lacked protection, and I told them that it was perhaps unreasonable for us to do this story and use this equipment to protect ourselves. By then, the hospitals had been supplied with equipment and they told us that there was no problem.

Did you feel you were in danger?

To quote Sartre: "Who is not afraid is not normal." In danger, no; worried, sometimes yes. I was especially afraid of having a high temperature. One day, I had a fever and I was very, very, very afraid of being taken into one of those fever clinics and becoming a danger to others. That was the only time. We were very careful; we wore masks, washed our hands regularly, kept our distance from people and didn't go out for too long. We were a bit like prisoners who escaped from prison, thanks to our press cards that allowed us to circulate, but we weren't contained like the other 11 million people. So there was no fear, but a little anxiety from time to time…

How about some of the funnier or happier moments?

There were funny episodes, like this little boy who was five or six years old. He didn't understand why he couldn't go out on the street during the lockdown and his parents told him that there was a very nasty virus out there. He said, "I want to go out and play with the virus, it looks fun!" It always makes you smile, even though deep down it's a little sad.

I was expecting the reopening of the city to be much more joyful, that there would be a lot more jubilation in the city. But it turns out that the release has been gradual and there are still many people who are afraid to go outside. There's a little girl who is 12 years old and since April 8th, her mother has been trying to get her to go out. But she doesn't want to go out and always finds an excuse to stay at home. It's a bit scary. I hope it will pass. We are creating this homebound generation of people who are afraid to go out – and it gives you a bit of a chill.