Deconfinement in France: fears and calls for caution by political leaders

Sunday marks the 55th and last day of confinement in France before a partial and controlled release Monday, May 11. Members of government and political leaders take turns calling on citizens to be cautious and clever. But in opposition, Jean-Luc Mélenchon (La France insoumise) denounces an ill-prepared and dangerous deconfinement.

"We are not going to send a gendarme to each apartment," said Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, about the authorization to meet up to ten people at most. On France Inter, he said to make "the bet of intelligence and understanding" for this first phase of deconfinement which begins Monday.

The gradual lifting of containment will be framed by rules, accompanied by government measures, and the Ministry of the Interior will play its full part in it.
But the keystone of deconfinement will be the civics of the French. pic.twitter.com/lzLhChz75S

"The French are not children", "we can trust them", also believes government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye, assuring on BFMTV that the government does not want to play only "the Fathers Fouettard".

However, the appearance of two new outbreaks in New Aquitaine, a region classified as "green", urges caution more than ever: "In these so-called green areas, it must be considered that the virus is there. It is in ambush, it circulates ", alerted Sunday Professor Anne-Claude Crémieux, infectious disease specialist at the Saint-Louis hospital in Paris.

"Everyone must make an effort so that the virus does not circulate by him", she added on France Info, insisting on the respect of the barrier measures to avoid the risk of a new start of the virus which made more 26,310 dead in France since March 1.

Only 80 people have been killed in the past 24 hours, the lowest daily toll since April 1. And the pressure on resuscitation services continues to ease with 56 fewer patients. But they still admit 2,812 patients suffering from severe forms of Covid-19.

And the absence of treatment or vaccine encourages vigilance: "Unfortunately, the evolution of the epidemic is extremely uncertain to date and it is the future that will allow us to decide," said Pr Creamy

The danger of transport

From Monday, the mask becomes the mandatory sesame in public transport. The state will make from Monday "10 million masks available to transport operators to distribute them to their users", including 4.4 million for the Île-de-France region, according to Christophe Castaner.

In the Paris region, the influx of passengers in the metro and rail network used by millions of people will be regulated with a compulsory certificate from the employer to operate during peak hours.

"We are not immune to reconfiguration if the rules are not respected," declared on Europe 1 the president of the region, Valérie Pécresse. "We will have to show civility and self-discipline again for weeks. The return to normal is not for tomorrow," she warned.

People who have to take public transport during rush hour for compelling reasons (accompanying children to school, taking an exam, going to a meeting, a job interview ...) will have access to it.

"It could all go very wrong"

Jean-Luc Mélenchon said on Sunday "very worried" on the eve of deconfinement in France because the measures decided by the government for a gradual return to work and school "are once again of the great anything ".

"The date of May 11, it was decided by a single character, the President of the Republic, without putting it in front of concrete means", denounced on Radio J the leader of rebellious France, accusing Emmanuel Macron of "often give us the impression of being totally over-excited".

"We are announcing the proportions of trains and subways, but we do not know how many people will come (...) tomorrow (Monday), you will have thousands of people on the platforms" and the security officers will have to " touch the person who does not have a mask with his arm or shoulder, either because he could not afford it or because he does not have sufficient civic conscience ".

"You are asking them to commit suicide with these people? All of this risks going very badly," fears Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who claims free masks for everyone.

Regarding the return to work, the leader of the radical left called "workers to form health collectives", accusing President Macron of having "abolished the health, safety and environment committees in companies". "People, they are going to make a living, they are not going to kill themselves for the happiness of a business," he insisted.

In a series of tweets, Jean-Luc Mélenchon then attacked the president of the Île-de-France region Valérie Pécresse (ex-LR), whom he described as "ignoble politician". "Ile-de-France residents, never forget: insufficient public transport tomorrow is Pécresse!", He wrote.

Ile-de-France, never forget: insufficient public transport tomorrow is Pécresse!

Earlier in the morning, Valérie Pécresse had lambasted "political forces in the country who want to plant the recovery", quoting "the friends of Mr. Mélenchon".

With AFP

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