PARIS, May 11 — France tiptoed out of one of Europe’s strictest coronavirus lockdowns today, allowing non-essential shops, factories and other businesses to reopen for the first time in eight weeks as the risks of a second wave of infections loomed large.
With the world’s fifth highest official death toll, France is also re-opening schools in phases and its 67 million people can now leave home without government paperwork, although documentation is still needed for rush-hour travel around Paris.
Theatres, restaurants, bars and beaches will remain closed until at least June, as the scramble in South Korea to contain a cluster of cases linked to nightclubs highlighted the peril of new outbreaks emerging.
“Everyone’s a little bit nervous. Wow! We don’t know where we’re headed but we’re off,” said Marc Mauny, a hair stylist who opened his salon in western France at the stroke of midnight.
Traffic flowed along the Champs Elysees in central Paris as workers cleaned the windows of shop-fronts ahead of opening for the first time in eight weeks. The capital’s La Defense business district was largely deserted as many finance workers continued working from home.
Passengers had to wear masks on the capital’s buses and metros traversing Paris, and stickers on seats marked out social distancing.
President Emmanuel Macron’s government lifted the lockdown after the rate of infection slowed and the number of patients in intensive care fell to less than half the peak seen in April. The virus has claimed 26,380 lives in France.
Manufacturing plants can re-open providing they put safety measures in place, which for some means not running at full capacity. People can only travel up to 100 km (62 miles) unless for professional reasons, funerals or caring for the sick.
Trade unions and opposition parties have highlighted the risks that Covid-19 infections will pick up again, particularly in places where distancing is difficult such as schools.
Health Minister Oliver Veran said France was ready to conduct 700,000 tests per week for Covid-19 to contain its spread. A “StopCovid” contact-tracing app, however, has not yet been rolled out.
Balancing act
Macron is eager to rescue an economy in free fall. The euro zone’s second biggest economy is forecast to contract 8 per cent this year, and joins countries globally scrambling to rebuild supply chains.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire today said French carmakers, hit hard by the coronavirus downturn, must bring more production back to France in exchange for government support.
His ministry is preparing sector-specific recovery plans for the struggling tourism, aerospace and auto industries.
“We are ready to help you, we are ready to improve incentives for new cars, we are ready to look at what can improve your competitiveness at French production sites,” Le Maire said on BFM Business radio.
“In exchange it’s going to be, what’s your relocation plan?”
In order to help workers return to their jobs, kindergarten and primary schools reopen this week, and junior high schools later in the month in areas where the infection rate is low. Class size will be limited to 15 pupils and secondary school pupils will have to wear masks.
The government has urged caution, with some regions including the Paris area remaining “red zones”, and subject to additional restrictions. People across the country are advised to work from home if they can.
The public health crisis will leave long-lasting marks in France, as it will across the world.
The French, long accustomed to being told their high taxes paid for the best healthcare in the world, have been dismayed by the rationing of critical drugs, face masks and equipment.
Macron’s handling of the crisis has been criticised by opponents and swathes of the public and fuelled mistrust. His popularity rating fell to 34 per cent in May, down 5 points from a month ago, according to a recent Elabe survey. — Reuters
