▫️ Last day of relative freedom. The 3rd confinement period is starting this evening even if a certain relaxation of the travel rules is expected for this Easter weekend. Inter regional travel will be allowed till Monday evening giving the chance for some to leave towns for the next 4 weeks.
For me, the worse is the maximum 10km rule. I shall have to find possible walks within that radius.
▫️ POLICE
In the Aude department, the police officers of the prefecture city are the most affected by the wave of coronavirus that is sweeping through the services. Overall, according to the figures communicated by the police unions, 17 positive cases are currently recorded among police officers in the Aude, as well as around thirty placed in isolation because they are considered to be Covid risk cases.
▫️ SELF-TESTS
Self-tests for Covid-19 will be available in pharmacies from 12 April, Health Minister Olivier Véran announced on Friday in an interview with online media outlet Brut. “It will be a useful complement” to other methods, he said. These medical devices, which allow people to test themselves at home with a result in 30 minutes, will not be available in supermarkets, the minister said.
▫️ NEW VARIANT
A new variant has been idenfied in India and immediately indexed by my friend Gérard. It is quite a thorny one.
▫️ GREEN CERTIFICATE
Don’t say “vaccine passport” anymore but “green certificate”. The EU Commission has given itself until June to develop a “green certificate” for travel, and perhaps more depending on the country.
Very pleasant walk today in an area we have been to before. This time however we started from the very village of Leucate. and made our way up to the Plateau de Leucate.
It is not a hard walk even if the ground is fairly uneven due to stones in many places.
We only saw one snake which disappeared quickly.
It is almost impossible to get lost once on the trail. Just follow the yellow markings or indeed the plaster emblems which tend to indicate on which trail you are. When you approach the top you can smell the sea which suddenly appears around a corner.
Best place to have a rest and a bite to eat
Followed by a nice and easy walk down back to town along the “Chemin du Berger”
▫️ Following the allocution from the President M. E. Macron on Wednesday evening, it is important to list the announced restrictions.
Therefore here follows the summary
● 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 May15th “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.
I had no problems reading the book from Florence which I went through in one go non-stop. But then again I have always like real life stories about the sea and sailing.
This one, although quite interesting, took me a little longer. It is mainly about politics and is written by the current Finance minister with quite a few insights on the decision processes in particular regarding the COVID-19 economic disaster and rescue package. It also has a few anecdotes on some country leaders.
I finished it this afternoon.
I had no difficulties whatsoever to go through these 2 comic books. Excellent stuff.
I went earlier to the book shop as well as the comic book shop to try and find some new material. Here is what I came home with.
and on the comics side, a new trilogy…
Let’s see how long it takes me to go throough these
Despite an extremely strong wind, “un vent à décorner les boeufs” as we say in French “which literally translated means “a wind to knock off the horns of oxes” or simply a wind that will blow you away, we went for a hike this afternoon. I have to admit that once or twice it felt like I was actually being blown away. One positive side of it is that on an incline just before reaching the “Col de la Croix”, the wind was pushing us forward making the uphill climb unoticeable.
The Sculpture Trail is a hiking trail located in the commune of Mayronnes in Aude (11). This route of approximately 5.2 kilometres represents an average of 1h30 of walking.
Several small streams in a majestic setting in the heart of the Corbières and the Val de Dagne, admire the many sculptures that guide your way. Surprising and magical, in the heart of the Corbières, Art and Nature meet here in a route full of surprises and discoveries.
I do not think I have missed many of the sometimes weird sculptures
Not the longest hike but a lot of up and down in sometimes very rocky paths.
As planned, the Prime Minister and the Health minister have announced, yesterday afternoon, a tougher response to the virus in the most affected areas, notably Île-de-France, Hauts-de-France and part of Normandy.
We are quite lucky, in a certain, way in our Occitanie Region because none of the announced tightened rules apply to us. We benefit however from the National Curfew’s new timing at 7pm (instead of 6pm) starting this Saturday (tomorrow).
So what was said? The “third wave” is here. Characterised by the appearance of variants, the epidemic resurgence of the last few weeks has forced the executive to tighten up even further its measures to combat Covid-19, while maintaining a “territorial approach”.
► New confinement for some regions
While a reconfinement limited to the weekend was long favoured, the executive has finally decided to put the Île-de-France, Hauts-de-France, Alpes-Maritimes, Eure and Seine-Maritime under a bell for the whole week.
Only “essential” shops and schools will remain open, but high schools will be switched to “half capacity”.
This measure comes into force from midnight on Friday and will be applied for at least a month. In total, some 21 million French people are affected, i.e. almost a third of the population.
► Schools stay open, high schools half full, universities status quo
“Preserving our children’s education as much as possible. France is the only country in Europe that is maintaining a classroom system for nursery, primary and secondary schools, where physical and sports education (PSE) will be able to resume “normally”. High schools, “more than two-thirds of which are already in half-size”, will all adopt this system. As for the universities, the current system will remain unchanged.
► Closure of shops that are not “of first necessity”
In order to enforce the containment, only the so-called “first necessity” shops will remain open. These are mainly food and DIY shops, but also record shops and bookshops, which were added to this list by a government decree issued at the beginning of March.
► Outdoor activities allowed in confined areas
“Brake, but do not lock up. (…) Get some fresh air, go for a walk, do some sport”. In this logic, outdoor activities will be authorised, unlike previous confinements which only allowed short trips for walking or running. “We know today that we contaminate ourselves infinitely less when we walk in the open air than when we are grouped together, without masks, indoors,” declared Jean Castex.
► Travel within a 10km radius with a certificate, without time limit
A considerable relaxation. In place of the “1 hour, 1 kilometre” rule, which had prevailed in previous confinements, the executive has this time decided to authorise travel within a 10 kilometre radius, with no time limit. However, a certificate is still required to justify each trip, and the reasons remain unchanged.
► Ban on inter-regional travel
To preserve as much as possible the spared territories. To prevent the virus from spreading in the departments where it is still relatively uncommon, inter-regional travel will once again be prohibited. It will therefore not be possible to leave a “red” zone to go to a “green” zone, except for imperative or professional reasons.
And most importantly
► Resumption of vaccination with AstraZeneca from this afternoon (Friday)
The European green light has been given. The vaccination campaign with AstraZeneca can be resumed on Friday. Currently, people aged 50 to 74 with risk factors and all those over 75 can be vaccinated.
I do it my way 