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France will reveal on Tuesday how it plans on May 11 to lift its six-week lockdown to fight the coronavirus, with the cafes closed but schools may controversially reopen.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe will present the measures in a speech to parliament after 1300 GMT, and the government will seek to take a good step between the need to lift the economy out of the crisis and preserve public health.
His announcement will be followed by debate and voting, with only 75 of the 577 deputies allowed in the National Assembly to respect social distancing, while all others will vote for power.
President Emmanuel Macron announced earlier this month that the blockade would be lifted on May 11, but left the details relatively vague.
Along with Great Britain, Italy and Spain, France has been one of the European countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the latest number of deaths at 23,293.
But more encouraging signs have emerged in recent days, with the number of patients in intensive care and in the hospital steadily declining.
The government warned that France is facing a historical contraction of eight percent growth this year, while unemployment in March registered a record 7.1 percent rise.
But despite imperatives to recover the economy, the government is aware of the risk of a second wave of infection, and French life will not return to normal on May 11.
‘Controlled and progressive’
Unlike Italy, which will keep schools closed until September, France is expected to restart education after Macron said schools could gradually reopen starting May 11.
But this has been controversial; The government’s own science council said it favored the reopening of schools only in the fall and insisted that it also acknowledged the government’s “political” decision to reopen them earlier.
“The scientific council is there to give a certain amount of information, but it is the political authority that decides,” its chief, Jean-Francois Delfraissy, told AFP.
The council has said that there should be “progressive and controlled relaxation of the confinement.”
Another issue that will be closely watched is whether the use of masks will be mandatory on public transportation, which is expected to increase capacity starting May 11.
After facing strong criticism for the lack of stock of sanitary masks, the government has said France plans to put more than 26 million non-medical masks on sale by the end of this week.
A few more stores are likely to reopen, while people may again be allowed to move freely between cities.
However, the affected restaurants and cafes will remain firmly closed, and the government is not expected to tell them until the end of May when they can reopen.
“The virus does not like the French lifestyle,” Macron said at a meeting of industry representatives last week that included star chefs.
(AFP)
