Grenoble (AFP)

The ecological mayor of Grenoble Éric Piolle on Wednesday welcomed the "change of tone net" adopted by the government in its management of the health crisis, believing that the use of the war register was "no longer tenable".

"We can rejoice in the change in your tone. We are no longer in a war speech," said Eric Piolle during a videoconference, saying that "the Prime Minister was right to use the words of the scientific council" .

This vocabulary was according to him today "hardly tenable" in view of a "situation of shortage of masks, tests and absence of vaccine which means that in practice", the means are lacking to fight the virus.

Elected EELV believes that the current period is "more adequate" to "accommodate ourselves to the virus and adapt our lifestyles to curb its spread".

"This deconfinement will not last two months. We should not talk about life afterwards, but about life with it. It will require adaptations everywhere and all over the next year," he insisted.

On the management of masks, Éric Piolle judges that the government has "changed its doctrine" and that it is therefore up to the State to "set the rules of the game".

"Otherwise it is the law of the jungle that prevails," warned the elected official, who calls for "a strong national strategy" to "avoid competition between cities, departments or regions".

"Given the stocks available and the industrial production capacity at this stage, we can legitimately wonder if we will be able to all have a mask on May 11," he said.

Eric Piolle was also worried about the "vagueness" which reigns, according to him, on the "conditions of deconfinement of cultural life" and expressed his support for "all the actors of culture".

Next week, he will present his deconfiection plan for Grenoble after having discussed it with the municipal council.

In addition to the return of kindergarten students to classes on May 23 and the pedestrianization of public spaces in front of the schools to allow "physical distance", new cycling facilities are planned across the city.

"We will not be able to resume our former life in public transport. The main alternative solutions are walking and cycling," he said.

© 2020 AFP