The specter of the second wave hovers over the deconfinement. It is with a mixture of restraint and prudence that the Prime Minister presented Thursday the conditions under which the country will begin, on May 11, its long march towards a form of return to normalcy. "We will start on Monday a very gradual process, which will last at least several weeks," immediately warned Edouard Philippe before detailing the restrictive conditions under which the French can start to leave their homes. And again, not everywhere in the same way, since four regions will remain under a stricter regime: Île-de-France, Hauts-de-France, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Grand Est and Mayotte. "The country is divided in two", lamented the Prime Minister. In these territories, colleges, parks and public gardens will remain closed.
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Elsewhere, the epidemic wave has been " stopped ". If these regions remain green, a new phase of deconfinement may be envisaged in early June with the reopening of high schools, cafes or restaurants in particular. But we will have to wait before getting there. "In three weeks, at the end of May, we will know precisely where we are, if we have managed to contain the epidemic," explained Edouard Philippe, who did not rule out the hypothesis of a reconfinement if the epidemic were to restart. "We have an interest in considering everything ," he said. A scenario that circulates in the executive. "The probability of a second confinement is important, or even a third if we believe some scientists from Inserm or the Pasteur Institute , " acknowledges, pessimistic, a member of the government.
In the meantime, a million students and 875,000 employees will return to the schools and businesses, detailed the ministers who followed one another, the mine closed, during the press conference hosted by Édouard Philippe. The conditions for deconfinement prove to be strict. In public transport, wearing a mask will be “compulsory” . Any infringement will be penalized with a fine of 135 euros. For journeys of more than 100 kilometers, a new certificate will be issued to limit movement between departments. The major shopping centers in Ile-de-France will remain closed. As for the frequentation of beaches and lakes, it remains prohibited, except with the exception of prefects.
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"France is ready for mass testing , " said Minister of Health Olivier Véran. In the event of proven contamination, isolation of the patient will be required. Despite the deconfinement, the Ehpad will remain closed to "protect the vulnerable elderly" . Internationally, "the borders remain closed," said Interior Minister Christophe Castaner. The restrictions run at least "until June 15" .
"General impoverishment"
After saying he feared before Parliament a "collapse " of the country, if the epidemic continues, the Prime Minister has not departed from his dark register, anticipating a "general impoverishment" of the French. "We are going through an economic situation of unprecedented severity , " then added the Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire.
The Prime Minister finally returned to the controversy about masks, in which the executive has been stuck since the start of containment. The state is accused of destroying millions of masks at the height of the epidemic. "A number of masks, which had been ordered and stored a long time ago, had passed their expiration date, and sometimes for a very long time ," said the Prime Minister. We looked at what could be used. There weren't many because they were already very old. "
