Paris (AFP)

Less than six months after deconfinement, the French are returning to a weekend confined at home, but the pill intended to curb the second wave of the Covid-19 epidemic seems more difficult to swallow, especially for small businesses at bay .

Despite a rather mild autumn weekend in terms of weather, the French will not be able to stroll as usual on the large Parisian boulevards or on the banks of the Rhône.

The rules for this light confinement, which came into force on Friday, are clear: as in spring, you can only "get some fresh air" for a maximum of one hour and within a radius of one kilometer from your home.

The exemptions also allow you to go shopping or go to the doctor.

But all restaurants, bars and other businesses deemed "non-essential" must keep the curtain down.

Even if some are resisting.

Thus, mayors of small and medium-sized towns, such as Perpignan, Brive or Chalon-sur-Saône, have issued decrees authorizing the opening of non-food businesses in their municipality, denouncing the "inequality" of treatment vis-à-vis the mass distribution. and online sales.

Several prefectures have requested the withdrawal of these orders.

"Local commerce, already weakened by online commerce, is now in danger of death," protested the Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CPME).

Calls are increasing for the reopening of bookstores.

On Saturday, in support of booksellers, four comic book authors, including Jul and Catherine Meurisse, resigned their responsibilities as sponsors of the Year of Comics from the Ministry of Culture.

"I fight every day to bring concrete solutions to traders," the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire replied on Saturday in Le Parisien newspaper, saying he understood the "anger" of traders, "especially since Christmas holidays are approaching ".

"But I want to be very clear: the solution is not to break the rules on which everyone's health security depends."

By this new confinement planned "at a minimum" until December 1, the government aims for a return to "about 5,000" cases of contamination per day, against nearly 50,000 recorded on Friday.

- "Illusory" -

With the hope of then lowering the pressure on the hospital system.

According to the latest figures published on Friday, 3,368 Covid-19 patients are now in intensive care or intensive care, with 422 new admissions compared to the day before.

The authorities fear saturation in the coming weeks.

The number of resuscitation beds, raised from 5,100 to 5,800 after the first epidemic wave, rose to 6,400 at the start of the week and should soon exceed 7,000, according to the Minister of Health Olivier Véran.

Large cities, especially the capital, had not regained the appearance of spring ghost towns on Friday and some are worried about a less well-followed confinement.

"I still have the impression that overall the French population has understood the gravity of the situation in which we were and the gravity of the situation that may arise", estimated Saturday on BFMTV Stéphane Gaudry, professor of intensive medicine at the Avicenne hospital in Bobigny.

Despite everything, "it is illusory to think that a four-week confinement will allow us to spend Christmas as if nothing had happened," warned in the newspaper Le Figaro Vittoria Colizza, director of research at Inserm.

"The duration of the confinement will depend on its effectiveness, but in all cases it will be necessary to opt for careful deconfinement: closure of certain businesses, possible establishment of a curfew, etc.".

As during the first confinement, the French who want to take the air or go to the market this Saturday must bring a temporary certificate, under penalty of a fine of 135 euros.

On the other hand, there are three major changes compared to spring: schools, colleges and high schools will reopen on Monday after the All Saints holidays, we will be able to visit residents of nursing homes and work on site will be able to continue, even if the use of teleworking becomes Rule.

The authorities will take stock every two weeks on the evolution of the epidemic which has killed more than 36,500 people, to see whether the measures should be strengthened or lightened.

Already, the government, which must also face the shock of the Islamist attack on Thursday in Nice, predicts that this new confinement will weigh heavily on the French economy: the gross domestic product (GDP) should contract by 11%, indicated Mr. Le Maire.

© 2020 AFP