Lockdown conditions in France

[CroissantsAtDawn]

Ive seen lots of threads with people worrying about lockdown.and how they would cope/ it would be enforced.

Last night, following the President's announcement I received a text message from the government confirming the lockdown for 15 days and linking to a site with details.

From 12 today we are only allowed out to go to work if work from home isnt possible, buy groceries, see a doctor, help elderly/vulnerable family in need (with reminder about barrier actions), to let a dog do its business or for individual physical activity close to home.

Each time you need a paper dated and signed explaining why you are out. Infringements are fined 38-135 euros. The paper can be downloaded and printed, shown on your phone or just hand written.

100 000 police and army personnel are being deployed to enforce the conditions.

No mention of how children can exercise. Just that parks etc are closed and there should be no family or friends gathering.

We are going to test going out early for run with 1 DC each and hope that is allowed in "individual activity". If its not I ll stand on the doorstep and watch them run up and down the road (2 highly active boys living in a flat....)

Oh and one reason we don't see a lot of kids is that a large number have gone to their 2nd homes. Would you prefer we did that?

In DS2s class at least half of them have left Paris for the lockdown.

several family outings a day for no reason is really irresponsible
I agree. I go out for a run alone with my dog early in the morning and see no-one. I don't go out apart from that, neither do my kids or OH, except to go shopping once a week, alone.

Again, if aimed ay me we don't do several family outings.

One child runs with one parent at 7am (and sees almost no one).

One parent might go shopping alone (but often doesn't).

One 15-20 minute play on pavement in front of flat with 1 parent.

I don't understand why adults are allowed out to exercise but not children?

Are you allowed to fetch prescriptions?

Nottalotta
The tunnel is still open and your family have a valid reason for travelling. An MOT can only be done in the UK

Yes allowed to fetch prescriptions. And for medical appointments (although obviously anything non urgent is cancelled. Eg my manager is still having her cancer treatment so leaves her flat for that).

@GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman

I don't have a dog so can't help you with that one. I think @CroissantsAtDawn has responded to that though.

The rules on exercising keep getting tightened. Last week I was OK driving to my local village and running round the lake, but you are now asked to stay a lot closer to home. Same with cycling - it was allowed initially but now prohibited. Other posters have commented that outdoor spaces are getting closed off. I don't know if that's happening here as I haven't been out.

I can easily go for days without encountering another human in "normal" times so the restrictions don't have a major impact here, but rules is rules and they apply to everyone regardless.

I think the main thing the authorities are concerned about are areas that attract people to congregate and mix with each other.

So beaches, parks, green spaces. I think for some the message that you shouldn't be meeting with people you don't live with is struggling to get through, even if it's outside.

I have been going out for a daily walk as I am pregnant and my doctor has told me I must continue to get some exercise, but have been looking into safe antenatal exercise I can do at home as every time I go out I still have to go through communal areas in my apartment block. So it is probably wise to reduce that as much as possible even if I don't touch lift buttons door handles etc.. with my hands.

The reason that the authorities are asking people to take short excersise is to reduce the risk of having an accident especially in a rural setting. They don't want to send out emergency services to someone with a broken leg in the middle of nowhere when they are already stretched to the limit. So even if you don't come across anyone the rules are there for the good of all and still apply to us all.

Grumpy you are allowed to take your dogs out for a walk. The exact guidelines differ, in our department the Gendarmerie has said it means around your block in town, max 2 km in rural areas.

@makiwa yes, I get that and it is exactly why it has to be one rule for everyone.

When it happens in the UK, all the people giving ever more convoluted reasons as to why nothing applies to them are in for a shock.

A hefty fine does tend to concentrate the mind.

crapette you're right and I was already under the impression that there was one rule for everyone.

Heavy police presence and fines are the only way to get the message through to people. It seems to be a message that the British government is unwilling to send at this stage of the pandemic. Sadly people will be losing loved ones because of the delay.

What would also help is if at the beginning they'd been more precise.

The restrictions on km, no bikes etc were only given in the days following the start of the lockdown.

And there remains no guidelines on what DC can do although the police have seen DH running with a DC on a bike and said nothing. They didn't even check his declaration.

The rules on exercise are also to try and ensure people stay fit, esp. their lungs, making them less vulnerable to CV.

Which is why running alone is allowed. For now.

My neighbours' son skateboarding was being a bit daft, but the rules are unclear: they refer to exercise, not sport. He gets it and stopped immediately.
The cycling ban was not announced by the gvmt: it was enacted by the French Cycling Federation, which told its members to stop "training". Here, in a rural town, a single person on a bike in a deserted street is not quite the same as a tightly-packed peloton in lycra.

This is really helpful croissants.

I'm relieved to know local exercise is ok. I'm going to work out a 1-2k loop around here today.

I think in the countryside 30 mins is OK. No more than 2kms from your home.

Guest7. The most irritating thing is people making up their own interpretation of the regulations. If you want to live by an utterly draconian regime - do so. In the meantime, those of us living sensibly, following the regulations can do so. We are allowed out.

We are also allowed to cycle to the shops, we can't cycle on the riverbanks for fun, but we can use them instead of cars for shopping & doctors appointments. There is no interpretation of the rules to include any form of socialising and just general pissing about.

Yes, you can jog with your child. Stay within the area and carry your attestations. Yes you can cycle to the shop - tick the shopping box on your attestation. No, you may not cycle to the furthest possible shop. If in doubt stay close to home. We were well within 2km of our apartment last night. There is nothing in the regulation that specifies how long you can go out for. Even the distances stated seem quite arbitrary - not even the Marie has answered the question.

Here, in a rural town, a single person on a bike in a deserted street is not quite the same as a tightly-packed peloton in lycra.

Well yes, and OH has just cycled to the Boulangerie for bread, but one only has to glance at the AIBU questions to see that this is a slippery slope.

I know that I can drive to the village tomorrow for a run and not encounter a single soul, but I also know that technically I would be pushing the limits and I don't enjoy running enough to pay 135 euros a time

My friend got stopped in said village walking her dog - possibly the first time anyone has seen a Gendarme there - they were rigourous about checking exactly how long she had been out.

Just seen this, taken from www.assemblee-nationale.fr/
Good to see that they are clamping down.

The govt have clarified the fines for second and third offenders of the confinement regulations.

1st offence is stil 135€, if payed within 45 days (375€ if paid late).

If a person is found to contravene again with 15 days the second fine is now set at 1500€.

If within 30 days the offence is commited a third time, it becomes a criminal offence with a 3750€ fine and 6 months in prison.

I agree it is a slippery slope - if people abuse it. I've not seen anyone do so here, but can quite see why the cycling issue is tricky to regulate and it's safer to just ban it.

A friend a few villages away was told off by the police for being just one street away from her house and was told to go back home. While on local gendarmerie's website they are still saying 2km is fine. I would be quite annoyed if I got a fine because I was doing something clearly listed as allowed.

We still haven't seen any police (i spend a lot of time looking out of the window). A lot more people going for walks though today.

Several towns have announced curfews. DH was incredulous and couldn't understand the point - until I pointed out that large groups of young people were meeting up at night. We haven't been out past 10pm for years

Serious gendarme presence here, four or five all day long at a strategic junction just up from my house.
Posters have gone up saying group gatherings and sitting on benches are forbidden and liable to fines.
Municipal police drive past with loudhailer messages twice a day, and when we were doing our 8pm applause, one of their patrol cars went by, stopped to check what we were doing, and then drove on.

Wow that is a lot more than us. They're probably all elsewhere in the city.

Am I right in saying that the decret passed this morning will extend the shutdown, including school closures, until 16 May at least? Two months, renewable?