▫️ DAILY AND WEEKLY STATISTICS HERE .

● Travel restrictions extended to the whole country
This is the end of “localised” measures. “No more regions are spared”, assured the Head of State, insisting on the power of the English variant. As a result, the restriction on daytime travel, which since 18 March has concerned 19 departments in the red zone, will be extended to the whole of metropolitan France. From Saturday evening, and for four weeks, it will no longer be possible to travel within a perimeter of more than 10 km, unless there is a compelling reason to do so, the Head of State announced.

A certificate will not be required for travel within a 10 km radius during the day. During curfew hours, from 7pm to 6am, or for travel exceeding 10km, a certificate will be required.

● Tolerance to travel during the Easter weekend
The French will be able to choose their place of confinement. Whether it is a change of region or a return to France from a foreign country, there will be tolerance for travel during the Easter weekend. On the other hand, “controls and sanctions” will be “reinforced on the public highway to limit gatherings” and to “control the consumption of alcohol”.

● Schools closed for three weeks, spring break unified
Distance learning is back. One year after an unprecedented closure of schools, schools will no longer receive pupils next week. Until Saturday 10 April, classes for primary, secondary and high school students will be held “remotely”. The spring holidays will then begin on 12 April for a period of two weeks for all zones. Finally, from 26 April and for one week, classes will resume in ‘face-to-face’ mode in primary schools and kindergartens, and remotely in secondary schools. On 3 May, schools will reopen with adapted class sizes.

Students will still be able to attend university for one day a week.

● All measures maintained for parents who have to look after their children
As a consequence of the closure of crèches, schools and colleges for three weeks, the President recalled that the parents concerned who have to look after their children and cannot telework “will be entitled to partial unemployment”. For employees, shopkeepers, the self-employed, entrepreneurs and companies, “all the measures will be extended”.

● Vaccination extended to over 50’s on May 15th
“Vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate without respite.” Once again, Emmanuel Macron wants to speed up on vaccination by setting new targets: people over 60 will be able to be vaccinated on 16 April, those over 50 will have access to it on 15 May. Finally, all French people who wish to be vaccinated will be able to do so from mid-June. A “specific strategy” will also be adopted for “all the most exposed professions”, such as teachers and the police.

● Additional intensive care reinforcements
Emmanuel Macron praised “the remarkable action of our carers, in particular the resuscitation and critical care teams”, and announced that they “are and will be supported in the coming days by additional reinforcements”. The number of intensive care beds, which has already been increased to 7,000, should reach just over 10,000, he added.

● All non-essential shops closed in France
As a result of the extension to the whole of France of the restrictive measures imposed in 19 departments, all “shops will be closed in the whole of metropolitan France according to the list already defined”. Only those businesses considered essential will remain open. I translated the list of essential shops below.

● Culture, bars, restaurants… A gradual reopening from “mid-May”.
Places of culture and sport, bars, restaurants, cafes, shops… Thanks to the “efforts of April” and the “deployment of vaccination”, Emmanuel Macron wishes to “gradually reopen the country” from “mid-May”. “We are going to build, between mid-May and the beginning of the summer, a progressive reopening schedule”, with “strict rules”, he promises, in order to “gradually return to normal life”.

● Mistakes” made but “we did well” not to reconfine
The head of state admitted having made “mistakes” in his management of the health crisis. But on the strategy of not reconfining in January, unlike several European countries, Emmanuel Macron considers that he has “done well”. “We have allowed hundreds of thousands of workers to keep their heads above water without ever losing control of the epidemic,” he said. Before adding that “believing in the responsibility of the French” is “never a gamble”.

▫️ ESSENTIAL SHOPS The lists of which keeps being revised. The latest version of shops allowed to open is as follows:

∙Food shops (supermarkets, bakeries, butchers, fruit shops, fish shops, wine shops, frozen food shops, etc.);
∙Chocolate and confectionery shops ;
∙Mini-markets, supermarkets, multi-stores, hypermarkets;
∙Car garages and technical inspection centres for motor vehicles and agricultural machinery;
∙Motor vehicle equipment dealers ;
∙Shops selling motor vehicles and agricultural machinery by appointment;
∙Sale and repair of motorbikes and cycles;
∙Supplies for agricultural holdings;
∙Book, record and video shops;
∙Musical instrument repair and maintenance services;
∙Plant and flower shops;
∙Shoemakers;
∙Hairdressing salons;
∙Banks and insurance companies;
∙Petrol stations and their associated shops for the sale of take-away foodstuffs (excluding alcoholic products) and sanitary facilities open to road users;
∙Shops selling computer equipment or repairs (computers, software), telephony and other telecommunication equipment;
∙Shops selling building materials and equipment, hardware, paint, wood, metal and glass;
trade in textiles (haberdasheries, knitting yarn shops, fabric shops, etc.);
∙Dry cleaners, retail and wholesale laundries;
∙Stationers and newsagents;
∙Pharmacies and medical and orthopaedic shops
∙Opticians;
∙Pet shops, seed and fertiliser shops;
∙Tobacconists (sale of tobacco), electronic cigarette shops, vaping equipment;
∙Rental and leasing of :
– motor vehicles ;
– other machinery, equipment and goods ;
– agricultural machinery and equipment;
– construction machinery and equipment;
∙Wholesale trade ;
∙Furniture storage;
∙Property viewing (the purchase, sale or rental of a principal residence).

Multi-store outlets, supermarkets, hypermarkets and other sales outlets with a surface area of more than 400 m2, authorised to open, may only receive the public between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. for the activities mentioned above and for the sale of toiletries, hygiene, cleaning and childcare products. These shops are allowed to maintain a take-away (“click and collect”) and home delivery activity during these hours.

Supermarkets and shopping centres of more than 10,000 m² are closed.

In covered markets, only food shops or shops selling plants, flowers, seeds, fertilisers, seeds and seedlings of fruit or vegetable species are allowed.

▫️ 10KM Radius

Here is the usual link to calculate the 10km radius. From our house it looks like that:

▫️ STORK NEWS

According to the web cam Wednesday afternoon, we now have 5 eggs. Could it be Easter time?

▫️ NEWS FROM ACROSS THE POND 🇺🇸

▫️ SATIRE

▫️ WEATHER

The weather looks quite pleasant in the coming days. I think a trip to the seaside before the travel restrictions come into effect this weekend is in order.

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▫️ SOME LINKS I LIKE TO USE