In the countdown to France’s gradual reopening after eight weeks of strict coronavirus lockdown, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has told French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche that masks, testing and bike routes that follow metro lines are at the heart of her plans for the capital, RFI reports.
All Parisians will be equipped with masks by mid-May, she says, adding that hotel rooms will be made available for people who test positive for Covid-19 but who cannot remain confined to their homes without contaminating their families.
Tests will be used extensively to better manage Paris’s "deconfinement", she says, citing advice from Dr Philippe Klein, the French doctor who was at the frontlines when the epidemic began in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
So far public testing is being done at the Hôtel Dieu, where the capacity to screen 400 people per day can be ramped up to 1,000, and at the Rothschild hospital in the 19th arrondissement. Systematic screening of staff and residents is also taking place in Parisian nursing homes.
