PARIS, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Amid tentative signs of a slowing in the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the French government is looking to ease nationwide lockdown on May 11, in the hopes of injecting life into the crumbling economy while ensuring people' safety.
The national lockdown, into its six weeks, has born fruits in curbing the coronavirus. On Thursday, the number of patients in intensive care continued a two-week decline. The overall number of those who remain hospitalized with the virus continued to drop, consolidating an eight-day trend.
The details of the government's exit strategy is set to be unveiled on Tuesday.
MEASURES UNDER STUDY
According to government's guiding policy, cafes, restaurants, cinemas and theatres would remain closed, and festivals would be postponed until mid-July.
Meanwhile, schools would reopen in several stages, with much smaller classes and on a voluntary basis. Retails will resume activity with strict rules to limit the number of people in shops at one time.
Speaking in a video call with mayors on Thursday, President Emmanuel Macron suggested regions would have to adapt their strategy depending on how hard they had been affected.
The scientific council, which advises the government on the epidemic crisis, said an ending of the confinement would be possible when the virus circulation slows down and sufficient stocks of equipment, including masks and testing kits, are available.
The government had promised that by the end of April, some 25 million reusable-fabric masks will be produced per week to provide the general public with a protective tool when the lockdown is lifted.
It also pledged to set up "a very efficient" test system to make sure that 700,000 tests per week will be available by May 11 from 150,000 currently.
FEARS OF SECOND WAVE
A study by Pasteur Institute estimated that by May 11 only 6 percent of France's population will have been exposed to the new coronavirus. It means that most of the population carry no immunity and the country risks a new surge in infections once people are allowed to leave their homes and some schools and shops reopen.
To Philippe Juvin, chief of emergencies of Georges Pompidou Hospital in Paris, "this figure is worrying."
"The deconfinement will allow a certain number of activities to resume, will let the country to have a breath and also the virus to be transmitted," Juvin said, predicting that a second epidemic would be likely "15 days -three weeks after the confinement ends."
"Our resuscitation beds are still full. It's expected that when we start to deconfine people, many will catch the disease, and some unfortunately will have a serious form of the illness. And to address that, we need beds," he told TF1 television.
The number of patients in intensive care units, a key indicator of a health system's ability to deal with the epidemic, is still above the country's original capacity of 5,000.
"This virus will continue to spread until we have significant collective immunity, and we are very far from it," said Salomon at the parliament hearing.
"Gesture Barriers and physical and social distancing measures will still be in place in May, and probably in June and this summer and perhaps for a long time as long as we have no answers: sufficient immunity, a vaccine or effective treatment," he added.
ECONOMY "UNDER ANESTHESIA"
The national statistics office INSEE said the lockdown had made the French economy function "like a person placed under anesthesia."
"The French economy can now perform only its vital functions," said the office, adding that activity in the private sector, which makes up around three-fourths of total gross domestic product (GDP), had plunged 41 percent overall.
In a report released on Monday, French Economic Observatory estimated two-month-long coronavirus lockdown will cost the country 120 billion euros (128.93 billion U.S. dollars) in lost revenue.
France's economic recovery depends on how much the French spend once lockdown is lifted, it said.
The government expected the economy to shrink 8 percent, and budget deficit to hit 9 percent of GDP this year, the highest level since 1945. (1 euro = 1.074 U.S. dollar) Enditem
