PARIS (AP) — Nursery and primary schools have reopened across France after a three-week closure in the first step out of the country’s partial lockdown. This is despite numbers of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units reaching their highest level since last spring. Authorities argue that daily numbers of new infections have started decreasing in the country, providing encouraging signs about the impact of restrictions that were imposed at the beginning of the month. Schools have been closed since April 5 as the government decided to bring forward the date of Easter holidays, in an effort to slow down the spreading of the virus. French President Emmanuel Macron said “we’re going to gradually reopen,” while visiting a primary school south of Paris on Monday.
