France to reveal plans on how Covid-19 lockdown will be eased

By Deputy Chief EditorApril 28, 2020

145 1 minute read

Issued on: 28/04/2020 – 05:30Modified: 28/04/2020 – 05:30

France will on Tuesday reveal how it plans on May 11 to lift its six-week-old lockdown to combat the coronavirus, with cafes set to stay shut but schools controversially being allowed to reopen.

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Prime Minister Edouard Philippe will unveil the measures in an address to parliament from 1300 GMT, with the government seeking to tread a fine course between the need to kick-start the economy out of crisis while preserving public health.

His announcement will be followed by a debate and a vote, with just 75 of the 577 deputies allowed into the National Assembly in order to respect social distancing, while all others will vote by proxy.

President Emmanuel Macron announced earlier this month that the lockdown would be lifted from May 11 but he left the details relatively vague.

Along with Britain, Italy and Spain, France has been one of the European countries worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the latest death toll standing at 23,293.

But more encouraging signs have emerged in recent days, with the numbers of patients in intensive care and in hospital falling steadily.

The government has warned that France faces a historic contraction of eight percent in growth this year while March unemployment registered a record 7.1 percent rise.

But despite the imperatives of getting the economy back on its feet, the government is well aware of the risk of a second wave of infection, and French life will be nowhere near back to normal on May 11.

'Controlled and progressive'

Unlike Italy, which is keeping schools shut until September, France is expected to restart education after Macron said schools could gradually reopen from May 11.

But this has proved controversial; the government's own scientific council said it favoured schools reopening only in the autumn while insisting it also acknowledged the "political" decision of the government 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 head Jean-Francois Delfraissy told AFP.