France confirms plan to begin reducing Covid-19 lockdown on May 11

French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe on Thursday detailed his government’s plan for easing Covid-19 confinement measures on May 11, warning that the exit from lockdown would be gradual and targeted to stem a resurgence of the viral outbreak, France 24 reported.

According to France 24, French PM unveiled an updated version of the government’s colour-coded map dividing the country between red zones, for high-infection areas, and green zones, where infections have been markedly lower. The map is designed to serve as a reference for lockdown easing measures.

“Some areas are still seeing an active circulation of the virus or a lot of pressure on hospitals. Those are classified as red areas,” Philippe said. “We will be ending the lockdown there, but some restrictions will remain in place: middle schools will remain closed, and so will parks and public gardens.”

The prime minister said both the authorities and the public would have to remain “especially vigilant” in the densely populated Paris region, a red zone, “where the number of cases is going down but remains high – higher than we had hoped for.”

Beyond the Paris area, administrative regions around Calais, Strasbourg and Dijon will also remain classified as “red zones”.