French Minister of Culture and Covid
By: Frank Cadenhead, Mar. 29,2021
Many in France were concerned in recent days after their popular Culture Minister, Roselyne Bachelot, 74, was hospitalized after contracting the Covid-19 virus. She had tested positive on the 20th of March and hospitalized on the 24th with oxygen therapy.
Her son, Pierre, in a statement on Sunday, was reassuring, indicating that she was doing better and “fighting it with courage,” He also thanked all of the medical staff who were attending her. He indicated that it will certainly be some days before she will leave the hospital as her health is still fragile.
Her positive test was the day after famed singer Michel Sardou was given the award, Commandeur de la Légion d’honneur, by the minister in a ceremony which included a hug while wearing masks. The 74 year old icon has since tested negative and echoed concern for the health of Mme Bachelot, a friend of many in the performing arts scene, a regular at concerts and opera, and holding a high-profile image not seen in the ministry since Jack Lang’s several appointments during much of the 1990s.
Bachelot was also, that same day, in an empty Opera Bastille for a recorded performance of a new Faust at the Paris Opera. There were a few dozen other guests, including journalists, in the audience, and she was photographed with some of the performers at the end. There has been no notices of virus transmissions from this evening.