Coronavirus: what you need to know this Tuesday, April 21

Good evening,

Today, on this 36th day of confinement, the Minister of National Education has outlined a very gradual plan to reopen schools . With around 6% of French people infected, collective immunity is far from being acquired. Avoiding a second wave of epidemics will also be the big challenge for companies and public transport who are facing the puzzle of deconfinement . In the United States, Donald Trump suspends immigration to protect jobs and supports anti-containment protesters.

Good reading,

Camille Lestienne, journalist at Le Figaro

1. Where is the epidemic?

France has registered 531 new deaths in the past 24 hours bringing the balance to 20,796 deaths since the start of the epidemic, announced the Director General of Health, Jérôme Salomon. In detail 12,900 people died in hospital and 7,896 died in social and medico-social establishments. France has also recorded since the start of the epidemic 117,324 confirmed cases of contamination with SARS-CoV-2, a balance sheet increasing by 2,667 new cases in the last 24 hours.

History of the epidemic in the 80 most affected countries. By Marie Coussin and Nicolas Mondon for Fig Data

Another 30,106 patients are hospitalized in France, but taking into account discharges, the balance is negative with 478 fewer hospitalizations. Same trend for intensive care patients: the balance is negative for the 13th consecutive day, with 250 fewer patients and a total of 5,433 serious cases, a lowest since March 30. Finally, 39,181 people left the hospital cured.

Read also: Follow the evolution of the epidemic, department by department

2. What happened today

The school resumption schedule. The Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, outlined this morning in the Assembly's Cultural Affairs Committee his plan to reopen the school. A return to “ progressive ” class over several weeks and by “ age group ”. Parents oscillate between worry and relief. The teachers want health guarantees. If the question of the contagiousness of children remains, Denmark has decided, justifying its choice by the resistance of children to the coronavirus. The first to close its schools on February 27, Japan still hesitates. In the families of the thirteen million Japanese schoolchildren, anger is raging.

Read also: Coronavirus: Sweden defends the merits of its “voluntary confinement”

Avoid the second wave. According to estimates published by the Institut Pasteur this morning, less than 6% of French people have been infected with the coronavirus. We are far from sufficient collective immunity to avoid a second wave. The return to normal will therefore remain very limited. And submitted to the vote of deputies according to the decision announced in the morning. Two will be organized, one on progressive deconfinement, the other on digital tracing. In a less deserted hemicycle since the Assembly relaxes from next week its "restricted format" and allows up to 75 deputies to sit.

Read also: Coronavirus: is Asia really facing a second epidemic wave?

Decisions should not be unilateral and negotiated agreements with employee representatives in each company are required.

Companies facing deconfinement. Restart the activity while preserving the health of the employees: the balance line will not be easy to find after May 11. " The decisions must not be unilateral, warns Laurent Berger, the secretary general of the CFDT, and negotiated agreements must be reached with the employee representatives in each company." There is a great risk of ending up in the courts, like Amazon today before the Versailles Court of Appeal, accused of serious breaches of security in France. It will then be necessary to "reinvent work", a heavy task which the majority of them are tackling.

SNCF and RATP are preparing after May 11 . Valérie Pécresse, president of the Ile-de-France region, warns that transport in the Paris region will be rationed. For their part, the SNCF and RATP are working on ways to ensure maximum passenger safety. Mandatory masks, disinfection will they be enough to reassure them? “ The issue is crucial , analyzes our journalist Jean-Yves Guérin, because otherwise many risk taking their car back to work. With the result more traffic jams and air pollution. ”

Trump wants to stop immigration. Faced with the threat of the coronavirus and to protect jobs, the American president announced on Twitter his intention to temporarily suspend immigration, in order to " protect jobs ". According to our journalist Pierre-Yves Dugua, " the tweet will not radically change the status quo ". In many states, anti-containment demonstrations, supported by Donald Trump, are increasing and denouncing measures deemed " liberticidal and dangerous for the economy ". In San Francisco, however, the radical methods of the Californian metropolis in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic are bearing fruit.

3. Pedaling, knitting, tasting…

Pedal. For lovers of the little queen, convicts of the road or followers of the passes, Le Figaro offers alternative solutions. Home trainer, exercise bike and online applications allow cyclists to practice their sport safely and in compliance with the rules of confinement. Obviously, these tools do not replace the pleasure of wind-blown hair, but they allow more intense training. “ I do 30 to 45 minutes every two days. This equates to more than an hour of cycling on the road, ”explains Pascal Martin, a regular trainer.

Knit. You have to find " your small personal deposit to give value to time ", advises sociologist and anthropologist David Le Breton. For some, it is the "click-click" of the needles that soothe, others engage in giant puzzles, coloring or herbarium. Journalists Alice Develey and Claire Conruyt take a tour of these slow activities rediscovered during the confinement. Time consuming, they allow us to extract ourselves from this anxiety-provoking world.

Read also: Containment: how to keep track of time?

Sido is the childhood of Colette, her compass rose, her eight cardinal points.

Read. His garden was his kingdom. Isabelle Spaak invites us to reread Sido de Colette, " the most magnificent portrait of a mother that has ever been read ", an evocation " which gives glory to all of us ". Sidonie Colette called "Sido" is never as happy as in her garden in Saint Sauveur-en-Puisaye. She likes it, can we read in this short text of 30 pages, " the red, the pink, the bloody daughters of the rosebush, the Maltese cross, hydrangeas and sticks of Saint-Jacques ". Sido, " it's Colette's childhood, her compass rose, her eight cardinal points ", underlines the journalist.

Read also: Cosmetics of the enemy of Amélie Nothomb: literature to the stomach

Taste. A sweet potato cake, its only name is already comforting. The dish offered today is that of Kelly Rangama, chef of Faham in Paris. It is the “ emblematic dessert of Reunion Island ” from which it originates. " This cake was our Sunday afternoon snack," says the young woman . With my husband pastry chef Jérôme, we sublimated my mother's recipe for our Parisian restaurant, by accompanying it with elements that lighten the dessert: a sorbet and a sweet potato tatin, a cinnamon bay emulsion, a marmalade lemon and roasted hazelnuts. "

4. Photo of the day

A man dressed up as a coronavirus plays with a little girl in Gaza, Palestine. MOHAMMED ABED / AFP

5. Containment, instructions for use

Despite the containment measures, it is possible to leave your home in several cases:

• Go to your place of work, if teleworking is impossible.
• Do your shopping in "authorized local shops".
• Go to the doctor or pharmacy.
• Travel to babysit or care for "vulnerable" people.
• Make brief trips, one hour maximum and within a radius of one kilometer, related to individual physical exercise.
• Go to judicial or administrative summons.
• Participate in missions of general interest at the request of the administrative authority.

Read also: Coronavirus: what is allowed and what is prohibited during confinement

In the event of an inspection, you must present a certificate to the police. It can be downloaded here, on a smartphone or be handwritten. The document must be completed at each outing to justify the reason. Violators are liable to a fixed fine of 135 euros, or even 1500 euros in the event of a repeat offense.

6. The reflexes to adopt

A few simple steps can limit the spread of the virus. Here they are :

• Wash your hands every hour.
• Cough or sneeze into the crease of his elbow.
• Use disposable tissues.
• Avoid kissing or shaking hands.
• Wear a mask when you are sick.
• Limit your movements as much as possible.

Covid-19 is spread by saliva through close contact with an infected person, especially when the person coughs or sneezes. The virus also remains viable for a few hours on different surfaces.

Read also: Coronavirus: highly contagious patients in the first days of infection

The disease manifests itself in several symptoms. In 9 out of 10 cases, this results in a fever below 39 ° C. According to the World Health Organization, this fever is most often accompanied by a state of fatigue , signs of shortness of breath and a dry cough .

7. What to do in case of symptoms?

The most important thing is not to go immediately to a general practitioner or to the emergency room to avoid infecting more people. Wearing a mask is highly recommended. For the rest, the recommendations of the Ministry of Health differ from case to case.

Stay home if you have few or no symptoms , taking care not to infect your loved ones. If you have a fever, take paracetamol. Possibly plan a follow-up teleconsultation with your doctor.

If you feel difficulty breathing , with a feeling of suffocation, after having felt proud and coughing for several days, call 15. Centers 15 being overwhelmed, rhinitis and fever or cough well tolerated should not make the subject of an appeal.

For any other question there are probably many do not hesitate to make a detour by this article.

See you tomorrow.