[ad_1]
The streets of Paris remained deserted today before the relaxation of France’s eight-week draconian blockade tomorrow, amid signs that the public has been scared to house confinement.
On the last day of what has been one of continental Europe’s harshest responses to the coronavirus, the streets around the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elysées, and the Avenue of the Opera were ghostly.
The few people who left their homes wore face masks or exercised once a day. A police officer even made time to take a photo of the Arc de Triomphe.
Before the government lifted the closure along with Belgium, France today reported another 70 deaths from coronavirus. Today’s figures are the lowest since the closing began on March 17.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Macron’s opinion polls have fallen during the crisis. Around March 19, the French president enjoyed a 51 percent approval rating according to a survey by Harris Interactive.
By the end of March (30-31), Macron’s approval ratings had dropped to 39 percent with a disapproval rating of 57 percent according to a survey conducted by Elabe as the death toll increased.
A man in a protective mask walks the streets of Paris on the last day of total confinement, May 10, 2020.
A corridor runs down the deserted Avenue des Champs-Elysées with the Arc de Triomphe in the background, May 10, 2020
View of the Champs Elysees in Paris, the last day of France’s eight-week draconian coronavirus blockade, May 10, 2020
According to an Ifop-Fiducial poll of April 30, the president’s approval rating had increased since the drop in late March to 40 percent, although this is still almost 10 percent lower than when he imposed the blockade.
Tomorrow, hairdressers, clothing stores, florists and bookstores will reopen. Bars, restaurants, theaters and cinemas will remain closed, and elementary schools will receive a small number of students.
Face masks will be mandatory as the public reverts to using public transportation to return to work.
Men, women and children of all ages will be able to leave without having to submit a form upon request. But people can only go 60 miles from home.
There are concerns within the population that the Macron government blockade is being lifted too quickly. A manager of a Lyon bookstore said he was “scared to death” by the reopening.
“It is a great responsibility to have to protect my staff and my clients,” he added.
Many parents also have doubts about whether or not to send their children to school, in a sign that, as in Britain, the French government’s coronavirus messages have been overly effective.
France recorded 70 coronavirus-associated deaths today, the lowest number of daily deaths since the closure on March 17, 2020.
The number of new cases has dropped from the peak in late March to 579 confirmed coronavirus cases on May 9.
View of Trocadero Square next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris on the last day of France’s eight-week shutdown, May 10, 2020
View of the deserted Avenida de l’Opera empty to traffic with the Paris Opera in the background on the last day of confinement
A policeman takes a photo of the Arc de Triomphe in the French capital on the last day of detention, May 10, 2020.
Preschool and elementary schools are scheduled to start early, and classes will be limited to 10 students in preschool and 15 elsewhere. Administrators were told to prioritize instruction for children ages 5, 6, and 10.
Due to the slow start, as well as the constant fears about Covid-19, school attendance will not be compulsory immediately. Parents and guardians can keep children at home if they prefer. Students with parents who want or need to send them to school do not have guaranteed places in the smaller classes and will only be allowed to attend if their school can accommodate them.
Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer estimated that 80 to 85 percent of France’s 50,500 preschool and primary schools will open this week. High schools in regions with fewer virus cases are expected to reopen on May 18. A target date for secondary schools has not yet been scheduled.
Given the ambiguous educational orientation and uncertainties about the spread of the coronavirus, French parents are in conflict by baffling the most responsible decision-making. Cecile Bardin, whose two children are 6 and 2, said she believes it is “too early” to put them back in their kindergartens and primary schools in Paris.
“I am not sure at the moment, because it will be very difficult to maintain a safe distance at school, especially for the little ones, who will want to play together,” she said.
Mathilde Manaud and her partner are raising their 3- and 7-year-old children at Le Pre Saint-Gervais, in the eastern suburbs of the French capital. They agreed to send the children to school if there were spaces.
‘The truth is that we do not know if we are correct or not, we do not know if it is a mistake. We ask ourselves this question every day and change our minds every day, ” Manaud said. “We are trying to convince ourselves that if they are reopening, they assume they can handle the situation.”
View of the Champs Elysees in Paris on the last day of France’s eight-week draconian coronavirus blockade, May 10, 2020
French President Emmanuel Macron wears a protective mask with a blue-white-red ribbon while gesturing as he talks to schoolchildren during a class during a visit to Pierre de Ronsard Primary School in Poissy.
Returning students will find that their classrooms function differently. Teachers will wear masks and remind children to walk away socially and wash their hands several times a day.
Macron sought to reassure parents and teachers while visiting an elementary school in a city west of Paris last week. Macron said schools would gradually reopen because he wants “things to be done right.”
School principal Mathieu Morel warned the president that ‘children are still children. There are spontaneous movements that are difficult to avoid. The school expects about 50 children out of an enrolled 181 to return this week.
Some mayors in France have refused to reopen local schools. Michele Berthy, mayor of the city of Montmorency, north of Paris, sent the parents a letter saying that the government’s health guidelines were “unenforceable.”
“Although I am in favor of relaunching our economy, I am confident that public health must remain our priority,” he wrote.
Mayors in other areas place local restrictions on enrollment, such as limiting access to school to the children of essential workers, such as police and healthcare providers, and families whose living conditions are precarious.
That is the situation in Paris, where Ingrid Rousseau hoped to send the youngest of her two children, aged 6, to school. She does not know if her son will be allowed to go, even though she and her partner are working.
“I don’t feel capable of teaching,” he said. ‘We are overwhelmed. We don’t have enough time.
Paris authorities estimate that about 15 percent of the city’s students will be able to return to school. Other towns and cities think they can serve about half of the children normally in preschool and primary.
Scientists are still divided over the role children play in transmitting the new coronavirus, which has infected more than 176,000 people in France, killing at least 26,300 of them, according to government figures.
Health officials have repeatedly said that children appear to be the demographic group among those least affected by Covid-19. The World Health Organization has reported that children appear to suffer primarily from mild symptoms, although there have been some serious cases and deaths as the virus continues to spread worldwide.
Other infectious disease experts say that while children can acquire the virus and can be infectious, it is clear that they are not super-spreaders of Covid-19, as they are believed to have influenza.
