France will have to live with coronavirus amid brutal economic crisis, says PM

Coronavirus: the symptoms
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe
POOL/AFP via Getty Images

France faces a “brutal” economic crisis and will have to “learn to live with the virus” after the coronavirus lockdown ends, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has warned.

As Europe’s death toll passed the 100,000 mark, Edouard Philippe said the threat posed by Covid-19 in France was receding “slowly but surely”. The daily tally of lives lost fell to its lowest level in three weeks yesterday.

But in a televised address he warned of lasting changes and severe economic damage even after the country’s lockdown ends next month.

“Our life after May 11 will not be the same as before... and probably not for a long time,” he said.

Mr Philippe added the economic hit from the virus and accompanying restrictions would be “brutal” and had only just begun. He said he would soon be setting out a detailed containment plan.

He also disclosed that people will probably be told to wear masks on public transport and those who could work from home would be advised to continue doing so.

He added that no one should be planning summer holidays far away.

Riots broke out in the Paris suburb of Villeneuve-la-Garenne last night, in a possible sign of lockdown tensions. Police fired tear gas while fireworks were set off by protesters after a man was critically injured in a collision involving a police car.

Europe’s death toll rose beyond 100,000, according to Johns Hopkins University in the US, with more than one million cases now confirmed around the continent. But with fatality and infection rates slowing in some of the worst-affected countries, several European nations including Germany, Norway, the Czech Republic and Austria were easing their lockdowns today.

In Germany, small shops ranging from florists to fashion outlets were allowed to reopen this morning, while older pupils returned to school.

Elsewhere, creches reopened in Norway while the public was allowed back into forests and parks in Poland. Open air markets in the Czech Republic were also opening for the first time since going into lockdown.

Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast

In Spain, however, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said it was too early for his country to begin significant further easing of its lockdown, following some relaxation last week, although he announced that children would be allowed outside from April 27.

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