France's former health minster under investigation over handling of COVID-19

France’s former health minister Agnès Buzyn has been placed under investigation over her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to BBC, the prosecutors at a Paris court said that Buzyn is under investigation for “endangering the lives of others”. The 58-year-old could also face a count of “failing to fight a disaster”. Now, a special government misconduct court will decide whether to prosecute her. 

The development marks one of the world’s first cases where a minister is held legally accountable for their pandemic response. Before speaking to prosecutors, Buyzn told reporters that the case was an “excellent opportunity” for her to explain herself and to set the record straight. The former doctor added that she would not let the government’s actions or her own be discredited when the officials did so much to prepare the country for a global health crisis. 

Buzyn became the health minister in May 2017, however, she quit in February 2020 to run in the Paris mayoral election for President Emmanuel Macron’s La République En Marche party. Her mayoral bid was unsuccessful as she lost the election to Anne Hidalgo. In January 2021, she then took the role at the World Health Organization in Geneva. 

Health Minister Olivier Véran could be summoned

Buzyn has faced criticism and ridicule over her statement about the pandemic. She had initially said that there was “practically no risk” of importing COVID-19 from Wuhan, China - the origin of the outbreak. She had also said that the “risk of spread of the coronavirus among the population is very small”. 

Moreover, Buzyn even went on to say that she left the ministry to launch a failed bid to become Paris mayor. She claimed that the “tsunami has yet to come” in an apparent contradiction of her earlier statements. The 58-year-old had even alerted the president and then PM Philippe to the potential “dangers” of COVID-19 as early as January. 

According to the media outlet, Buzyn’s probe comes as a part of a wider investigation into the government’s COVID-19 pandemic response, including its preparedness, policy changes, and its reception of scientific research into the virus. It has been reported that France’s current health minister Olivier Véran could also be summoned before the same judges in the coming weeks.

(Image: Twitter)