Neither “general panic”, “nor psychosis”, insists the French government, trying to reassure in the face of bedbugs. While the debate on these pests and their resurgence is making headlines in France, foreign journalists are also scrutinizing the situation. The executive wants to be reassuring but disinfestation interventions have increased by 65% this summer compared to last year, according to France Info.
Reports are increasing, with the population worried about this infestation. Enough to attract the attention of the international press, especially less than a year before the Olympic Games. Overview of a slightly exaggerated frenzy, particularly in transport, while the SNCF and the RATP assure that they have not found any bedbugs recently.
“No one is safe!” »
A myriad of articles have taken up the phrase of Emmanuel Grégoire, the first deputy at Paris City Hall who affirmed that “no one [n’était] to the shelter” on LCI last Friday. CNN headlined this sentence when other English-speaking media cited it like the Guardian Or The Mirror.
Many foreign media focus on Paris, even if it means creating a striking contrast between the romantic reputation of the French capital and the presence of these blood-sucking insects. Thus, the New York Times likes to title “City of Light or City of Bites?” » (“The city of light or the city of bites?”). More informative, Italian television Rai News discusses “Paris facing the invasion of bedbugs”. In a report, the American television channel CBS states that “the entire city is infested with bedbugs”.
Tips to protect yourself
Many foreign media focus on public transport. Bedbugs “even take the train and the ferry,” warns the CBS channel. Public transport is causing a lot of concern in France, yet the Minister responsible for Transport, Clément Beaune, assured Wednesday that there was “no resurgence” in these shared places.
In order to check a possible increase in cases, he however asked public transport to publish data on reports “every three months”. The Spanish newspaper El confidential focuses on schools. He thus reports the closure of the Joséphine Baker school in Marseille and that of the Albert Camus primary school in Villefranche-sur-Saône.
Tourism and little animals
France is the number one tourist destination in the world and many tourists are worried about bringing bed bugs home. An Air France flight from Paris to New York was even canceled on Tuesday due to suspected bedbugs. However, it was a false alarm.
Which does not prevent our colleagues from multiplying the articles which list recommendations in order to get through the drops of insecticide. So, Forbes provides this advice on “how to spot them and avoid bringing them home”. However, other countries are affected by this resurgence. Thus, the Guardian claimed in early September that infestations had increased by 65% in the United Kingdom. Or as much as in France.