France charts ‘risky’ return to life after virus lockdown
PARIS: France will begin a gradual but “risky” return to normality on May 11, with shops, markets and some schools reopening after an eight-week coronavirus lockdown credited with saving more than 60,000 lives, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said Tuesday. But life will not be as before, with face masks compulsory on public transport, working from home strongly encouraged for several more weeks, and restaurants and cafes - quintessential to the French way of life - remaining shuttered.
The French people “will have to learn to live with the virus”, said Philippe, urging strict, ongoing respect of social distancing and personal hygiene measures to limit new infections to a minimum, with no vaccine or proven treatment yet available. At the same time, France cannot afford an “indefinite” lockdown, Philippe said.
Non-essential businesses have been closed since March 17, with people confined to their homes except for essential business. “We must protect the French without immobilizing France to the point that it collapses,” Philippe told the National Assembly, which must vote on his proposed measures. It is necessary, the premier said, to “gradually, cautiously, but also resolutely proceed with lifting the lockdown, as long-awaited as it is risky.”
Fine line
Philippe said the government is treading a fine line. “A little too much carelessness, and the epidemic restarts. A little too much caution, and the entire country sinks.” Only 75 of the assembly’s 577 lawmakers were present for the premier’s address, with several empty seats between them, in line with virus-busting social-distancing measures.
The National Assembly approved the government plan late Tuesday with a vote of 368 to 100, with 103 abstentions. —AFP