COVID-19: French shops to reopen May 11, masks a must on public transport

Paris: Shops and markets can reopen when France's coronavirus lockdown eases on May 11, though schools will resume classes only gradually and face masks will be compulsory on public transport, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said Tuesday.

Philippe told parliament that home confinement had helped brake the epidemic and prevented tens of thousands of deaths, but the economy now had to be reopened, though "with prudence, progressively".

"We will have to learn to live with the virus," he said, since no vaccine or proven treatment is yet available.