Europe tiptoes towards new normal after lockdown

Bloomberg

Europe took another step towards life after lockdown as France, Spain and Greece unveiled details of how they plan to emerge from the coronavirus and cautiously restart economies crippled by the pandemic.
In Paris, PM Edouard Philippe announced plans to reopen stores starting on May 11. Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez said he aims to remove most restrictions on daily life and return to a “new normality” over the next eight weeks. Schools in Spain, though, will remain closed until September.
A clearer picture is now emerging of how Europe aims to ease its way back towards some semblance of normality, though governments have stressed that there’s still a long way to go before coronavirus is beaten. With the absence of a vaccine, all countries are trying to strike a delicate balance between reviving businesses and household
finances while averting a potentially devastating second wave of infections.
“We must follow a fine line: too carefree and the epidemic restarts; too cautious and the entire country sinks,” Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said as he outlined the measures in a speech to parliament on Tuesday. “We must protect French people without immobilising France to the point of collapse.”
Lockdown measures shuttered factories, halted travel and kept millions of people largely confined to their homes. The fallout is spurring talk of recovery efforts on the scale of the post-World War II reconstruction. But after more than 120,000 deaths on the continent, officials remain wary of decisions that could see them risking lives.
No Return
Philippe said French restaurants and cafes may be allowed to reopen from June 2, and pupils can start returning to school from May 11 but with strict rules. Public events of more than 5,000 people are
outlawed until September and working from home is encouraged for at least three more weeks, he said.
The tourism industry is likely to continue to suffer, as beaches won’t reopen until at least
June 1, parks and gardens will be accessible only where virus infections are low, and inter-regional travel will be discouraged.
In Greece, whose economy depends more than most on tourism, the message was you can get your hair cut but it will take weeks before the hospitality industry can open. That’s despite a death toll far below many of its European counterparts.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the gradual lifting of restrictions starting from May 4 with small retail outlets such as bookshops and sports stores, followed by the gradual opening of schools. Some hotels and restaurants can resume business on June 1.
“We are returning, but we are careful,” Mitsotakis said in a
nationally televised address. “There is no return to a pre-coronavirus reality,” he warned.
The lockdown has helped to contain the virus in France, with admissions at intensive-care units declining, according to the authorities. The disease has so far killed more than 23,000 people there, making it a European hotspot along with Spain, Italy and the UK, whose death toll passed 20,000 at the weekend.