France emerges cautiously from coronavirus lockdown

France tiptoed out of one of Europe’s strictest coronavirus lockdowns on Monday, reopening shops, factories and some schools to revive the economy but wary of the risks of a second wave of infections.

With the world’s fifth highest official death toll, France is allowing a return to workplaces with social distancing measures and re-opening schools in phases. The country’s 67 million people can now leave home without government paperwork.

“Everyone’s a little bit nervous. Wow! We don’t know where we’re headed but we’re off,” said Marc Mauny, a hair stylist who opened his salon in western France at the stroke of midnight.

In central Paris early on Monday, traffic flowed along the Champs Elysees, a giant tricolore flag billowing under the Arc de Triomphe at the boulevard’s summit, as workers cleaned the windows of shop-fronts ahead of reopening.

Commuter traffic on the capital’s metro lines was lighter than normal. Passengers have to wear masks and stickers on seats marked out social distancing.

France had enforced an eight-week lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus that only allowed food stores, pharmacies and tobacconists to stay open.

President Emmanuel Macron’s government lifted the lockdown after the rate of infection slowed and the number of patients in intensive care fell to less than half the peak seen in April. The virus has claimed 26,380 lives in France.

Business can now re-open providing they put in place safety precautions. But people can only travel up to 100 km (62 miles) unless for professional reasons, funerals or caring for the sick.