What explains France’s Covid chauvinism?

It’s that old Covid chauvinism again. France is in denial about the severity of its new pandemic flare up and possibly a second wave. French news bulletins, but also supposedly authoritative newspapers like Le Monde, have concentrated on how badly things are going elsewhere. In the last few days, Spain was singled out as having reached a new peak of around 3000 positive tests in the previous 24 hours, Britain had hit a similar number. Few mention that France’s numbers were way above that. What is behind this diversionary tactic?

To put it bluntly, as I explained in The Spectator on 5 May, Covid statistics are just international politics by other means. Is mere unconscious bias to blame for French media reports regularly avoiding comparisons of their own far greater number of positive Covid test numbers with other states? 

For over a week, France has averaged around 7000 positive tests per day; on one day this week, it hit 8,500, with positivity rates, hospitalisations and deaths rising exponentially.