Deconfinement: Phase 2

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, Health and Solidarity Minister Olivier Véran, and Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer spoke this evening to tell us what the second phase of deconfinement, June 2nd to June 22nd, will look like.

On May 7th, the country was split into red and green zones, with the northeast quarter being red. Today, Paris and the surrounding area, along with French Guyana and Mayotte, are still yellow, and the rest of the country is green, including our region. The colors indicate that while the virus is still circulating, hospitalizations and ICU usage are at a level that the country can handle, though things are more tenuous in the yellow zones.

We were thrilled - well, Frédéric and I were - the boys a bit less so - to hear that middle schools will re-open June 2nd. The school year runs until July 3rd, so that still gives them a month of classes. We're waiting to hear from their middle school about how things will be organized. Returning to school is voluntary, and masks will be required. Students who don't return are expected to continue distance learning from home through the end of the school year.

Swimming pools are also allowed to re-open June 2nd. We'll be watching for information from the boys' swim coach, too, to see whether practice will start up again this year at all or not.

As of June 2nd, we will no longer be limited to traveling within only 100 km of home, but the government still encourages prudence, of course. By June 15th, we hope to have a clearer idea about what the summer will look like for borders in general, and June 22nd will mark phase 3 of deconfinement.

Summer camps are also allowed to open after June 22nd. The one the boys go to is waiting to see what the hygiene measures required will be, over and above the usual, before they decide whether they'll open or not.

And we don't know what the rest of the summer holds yet. If nothing else, this pandemic is teaching us to live in the moment.

Benjamin the Philosopher

The neighbors' kids are always outside at the moment, and ALWAYS crying. With our windows open now that it's warm, I said, "Am I going to spend the summer thinking they're inside our house?!"

Benjamin is much more philosophical about it. "Better to have loud people you think are in your house, but aren't, than quiet people in your house and you don't know it."

Homeschooling is going great

Overheard:

Noah : Papa, on est mercredi ou jeudi ?  [Dad, is it Wednesday or Thursday?]
Frédéric : On est mardi.  [It's Tuesday.]
Noah : Oh, purée. [Oh, darn.]

It's a long week already. 

Freedom!

The boys and I went out today for the first time since March 13th. We went to see our swim team friends for the afternoon.

It was really weird to go out - felt like we were breaking rules. We hadn't seen the forest in two months - it's green and lush now. The boys talked non-stop, commenting on all the things that had changed in two months. That gate is new, that wall looks different - oh, it's because they

When we drove through town, there were people out everywhere, some with masks, some without. We opted for without with our friends, since we've all been on lockdown for two months, and it's hard to drink coffee through a mask.

It felt great to be out! The weather was nice, so the boys all played in our friends' yard while we chatted. But after two months of only familial social interaction, it also wiped us out.

It will be at least two more weeks before we find out whether the boys get to go back to middle school this year or not.

...AND Frédéric's birthday!

With it being deconfinement day today, we decided to play it cool and not invite anyone else to join us for Frédéric's birthday this year. We played some cards, he had a video-apéro with his family, and after dinner we had this delicious "snowball cake" - a combination of devil's food cake and cheesecake topped with whipped cream / pudding / coconut frosting. Yum!

Deconfinement Day!

After 55 days of lockdown, deconfinement day is here! As I mentioned, we're in a red zone, so the boys' school won't be opening for the next three weeks, at least. And after three weeks, the government will re-evaluate and see where things stand. 

So deconfinement actually won't change a lot for us. We'll still mainly be at home. We won't need a pass to go to the grocery store anymore, and we can see friends from time to time, which will be nice. We still won't be kissing anyone hello with the bise anytime soon, or shaking hands, and we'll keep our distance. When we go into public places like shops, we'll wear our "grand public" masks, intended to keep us from passing the virus on to anyone else if it turned out we have it and don't know it.

Noah, Benjamin, me, and Frédéric - all ready to go out!

Confinement Day 52: Working Outside and Sad Map

We've had really amazing weather for most of this period.of confinement. The boys and Frédéric worked together today to make a fence out of the remains of the old garden shed to keep Gala out of the vegetable garden.

*  *  *  *

Edouard Philippe, the prime minister, and several other ministers spoke this afternoon to let us know what life will look like starting May 11th. We'd been following a map like this for a few days, tracking red, yellow, and green zones. Our department, Aisne (02), turned yellow a few days ago, but sadly, in the final map, we've turned red again. The three criteria used are: active circulation of the virus (we're at 6-10% of ER visits being for COVID-19), hospital capacity (we're at 80% of ICU beds being used for COVID-19), and testing capacity (100%, nationwide).

Seeing our area turn red when it had started to improve was a letdown. The government explained that the trends have to be ongoing, so the short amount of time our department showed improvement wasn't enough yet.

On the bright side, both red and green zones will be deconfined May 11th, with some regulations that will remain for the next three weeks. For example, we're not being allowed to travel more than 100 km from home, in a different department, without a good reason (work, or urgent family reasons). Gatherings are limited to 10 people or fewer. Stores will open, but restaurants and bars won't yet. The government encourages those who can work remotely to continue to do so. "Altruistic" masks will be required in public transportation, and to use public transportation during rush hour, you'll need a statement saying you're going to or from work, or have another allowable reason to be on transportation at that time.

In the red zones, the main differences at this point seem to be that parks remain closed and middle schools won't open yet, though primary schools will open as possible based on local ability to follow the recommended guidelines.

The government plans to re-evaluate the situation in three weeks - early June - and we'll see what the next steps or conditions are then.

Confinement Day 50: Cooperation or Competition?

Benjamin, while playing Nertz: "Why don't we see if we can put all the cards out."
Me: "Because that isn't how Nertz works."

Benjamin: "We could make it a cooperative game instead of this stressful thing."

We did play the cooperative game Mysterium the other day, and we all won - I guess that was more to his liking.

Confinement Day 47: The sewing factory

The French government has started rating departments red, yellow, or green, based on how much the virus is circulating in each one and whether hospitals are below, at, or above capacity for ICU beds and ventilators. Right now, our department (Aisne) is yellow for virus circulation and red for hospital capacity. 

These colors may impact how deconfinement happens starting May 11th. So we're watching this week to see what happens, and waiting for further news. 

In the meantime, we're staying home and keeping busy.

I laid out the beginnings of a rag quilt.

And we now have a nice collection of face masks for when we're allowed out again.