Paris (AFP)

A week to resolve the uncertainties about schools, transport or the screening and follow-up of the sick: the government must refine its plan for progressive deconfinement from May 11 and respond to the concerns that are accumulating among elected officials, parents of students, employers and their employees.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe presents this Monday from 2:30 p.m. his national plan before the Senate, which must vote after a debate.

A certainty on the health aspect: if virological tests will be widely used to detect sick people and isolate them, it will not however be necessary to count on a generalization of serological tests, making it possible to say who has developed antibodies.

These serological tests make it possible to say who has been sick or not but without being able to certify that we will no longer be able to catch the coronavirus: "Do these antibodies (...) protect people? We do not have this certainty ", explained Monday on RTL Dominique Le Guludec, president of the High authority of health (HAS).

The HAS cannot advise a general screening at present, because that would risk reassuring the population wrongly, "she warned and" it is almost more dangerous than not knowing "because" when you lower guard, you lower the barrier measures. "

Over the weekend, the government clarified the relaxation of the containment planned from May 11 and announced a compulsory "fortnight" for people arriving on national territory, with isolation if they are sick. But, said the Elysee on Sunday, this rule will not apply to travelers from the European Union, the Schengen Area or the United Kingdom.

- "Brigades" -

Concerning people tested positive while they are already in France, no coercive measure is planned, the government counting on "the spirit of responsibility".

If the controversial StopCovid patient tracking application will not be operational on May 11, the authorities rely on "brigades" responsible for identifying people in contact with a patient, to invite them to be tested, or even to isolate.

The objective remains to avoid a second wave of contamination at a time when the situation in hospitals is becoming more relaxed every day.

Resuscitation services remain saturated with a total number of hospitalized patients always higher than the initial capacity, but the decline continues with regard to patients with Covid-19 (8 fewer in 24 hours).

The coronavirus caused 135 additional deaths in 24 hours in France, a total of 24,895 since March 1.

- Half green -

According to the last update on Sunday, half of the French departments were classified in green which means that a wider deconfinement can be organized there. The final map must be published on May 7.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, however, warned that green regions would not be free from constraints.

"If you think that we can completely free up traffic and not respect the rules in this region on the grounds that it is a green region, I can tell you that in two weeks it will be red," he said. warned.

But many unknowns remain after May 11, first of all on the reopening of schools.

The "majority of nursery and primary schools" will be on May 11, assured the Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer, with a maximum of fifteen children per class.

Schools will have to respect a very strict health protocol: repeated hand washing, prohibited games, disinfection of equipment ... a real headache, especially in kindergarten, some teachers argue.

Many mayors have said they will not reopen schools on May 11.

329 mayors of Ile-de-France, including PS mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, wrote Sunday to President Emmanuel Macron to ask him to postpone the reopening of schools, denouncing a deconfinement "forced march".

The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire denounced Monday "a bad controversy" on the sale of masks in mass distribution, now effective at checkout or reception. This sector "has perfectly played the game in particular to guarantee the security of food supply for the French," he pleaded on France Inter.

The large distribution had already defended this weekend to have built up "hidden stocks" of masks, after the Orders of the health professions were offended by the "staggering" number of masks announced for sale.

While the Paris stock market opened sharply down by 3.48% and air transport is very affected by the crisis, the European Commission authorized France on Monday to grant support of 7 billion euros to Air France for face the consequences.

© 2020 AFP