While COVID-19 is a global scourge, response and recovery will vary according to national context and local realities. Jean-Paul Moatti, former Chief Executive Officer of the French Research Institute for Development (IRD), Professor Emeritus, Aix-Marseille University, and member of the Independent Group of Scientists for the GSDR, provides an assessment of the French situation and outlook in this Lancet Public Health article and interview on France 24.