French and Riviera News Monday 1st June 2020

Coronavirus - For the first time since March 17th there have been no additional deaths from coronavirus in the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur region over the weekend. 

The latest figures from the Regional Health agency show that in total 6,953 people have tested positive in the PACA region since the beginning of the pandemic. 898 people have died and 4,890 have recovered. 898 patients remain hospitalised and 77 are being cared for in intensive care units.

In Monaco there were no new cases of Covid-19 with the number of cases remaining at 99. One person is in intensive care and another patient is being cared for by the home monitoring centre.

On a national level 57 additional deaths were reported in French hospitals over the last 24 hours, bringing the total death toll from Covid-19 in France to 28,771.

Lifting of lockdown - Tomorrow Tuesday June 2nd marks the beginning of the second phase of the end of lockdown in France with many measures being lifted. Restaurants and bars are set to reopen. The Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, has announced that restaurants and bars will receive 1,000 euros each. The mayor said the funds were being distributed to help restaurants and bars with their cash flow and to help in reintegrating their staff. Financial support is also planned for various other businesses affected by the pandemic from a fund of 3.5 million euros released for the second half of the year.

Meanwhile, in Nice it’s been announced that from June 8th all inhabitants will be given access to testing, free of charge. Registration will be open online from Monday June 8th. In Monaco the national testing campaign is already underway with residents being invited to get tested, employees in the Principality will be able to do so from tomorrow June 2nd.

Pregnant woman jumps from first floor to escape violent partner - A 35-year-old expectant mother has jumped from a first-floor apartment on the Boulevard de la Madeleine in Nice, fleeing her violent partner. Four months pregnant the woman fled the flat by jumping from the kitchen balcony on Saturday evening, suffering minor injuries and taking refuge at a nearby police station.

The repeat offender, with a full criminal record had previously been sentenced for domestic violence in February last year. He has since been placed in police custody awaiting trial this week.

Six-year-old girl run over in Nice - A six-year-old girl has been taken to hospital after being hit by a car on the Boulevard du Mont Boron in Nice. The accident occurred shortly after midday on Saturday.

Emergency services were at the scene, little is known about the circumstances. Anyone with any information is invited to contact the police in Nice.

Police seize 82 kilos of cannabis - A Romanian truck driver has been stopped by police at the La Turbie pay toll on the A8 motorway in possession of 82 kilos of cannabis.

During a spot check by customs officials around 5 a.m. on Saturday, 77 packages were discovered with a street value of nearly 145,000 euros.The 30-year-old man is to appear in court on Wednesday.

Changes from June 1st - From today, as with every first of the month new measures will come into force in France.

The State will reduce its contribution to partial unemployment which had been put in place following the national lockdown. There will be a slight drop in gas prices, and an increase in electricity and the right to evict tenants which was scheduled to end on May 31st, has been extended until July 10th due to the coronavirus crisis.

Notre-Dame de Paris – The cathedral square at Notre Dame de Paris has reopened more than a year after the fire.  

The mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo was present on Sunday to reopen the site which had been closed due to work being carried out to remove dangerous lead pollution.

Business

Shares in Asia have pushed up towards three-month highs this morning and US stock futures are also up as progress on opening up economies eased concerns about rioting in US cities and unease over deteriorating relations between Washington and Beijing.

Investors have been focusing on China amid signs that parts of the domestic economy are picking up.

An official business survey published this morning shows that factory activity in China grew at a slower pace in May but momentum in services and construction quickened.

Investor resilience has been notable given that many major US cities have been counting the cost of rioting and looting in protest over the death in police custody of black man George Floyd last week.

Many city centres have seen streets strewn with broken glass and burned out cars with curfews failing to prevent demonstrators taking to the streets.

The turmoil is a fresh setback for the US economy which is only just emerging from lockdown as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 200 top UK firms and investors have called on the British government to deliver a Covid-19 recovery plan that focuses on the environment.

Signatories to the initiative include Lloyds Bank ,Asda and Siemens and Sky who all say that efforts to repair the economy should support the government’s commitment to tackle climate change.

The proposals include driving investment in low carbon innovation ,infrastructure and industries.

Focusing support on sectors that can best support the environment ,increase job creation and foster the recovery  while also decarbonising the economy and attaching conditions on financial support for businesses to make sure that they are in step with climate goals.

The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has given some indications that he would back a so called “new green deal” and there are reports that the Treasury is planning cash for labour-intensive home insulation and further investment in electric vehicles.

And-Delta Airlines and its pilots union have said that they’re working to avoid furloughs on some 2,300 pilots following a reshuffling process which is aimed at matching staffing to summer 2021 schedules.

Delta said last month that it would have more pilots than it needed as it reduces its network and fleet due to a  drop in demand from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The airline says that it wants to avoid involuntary furloughs  and has assigned a number of pilots to various bases around the United States.

So far ,more than 2,300 staff have not been assigned but the airline said that it would continue working with unions to find a solution.

Delta employs more than 91,000 people and has been working to find suitable redundancy terms for many employees which will include cash severance ,full healthcare benefits and travel concessions.

Sport

Formula 1-The British government has given the go ahead for two races to be held at Silverstone this summer.

Sources say that Formula 1 staff will be exempt from a requirement on international travellers to go into 14 day quarantine upon arrival in the UK and should clear the way for the sport to organise two Grand Prix behind closed doors sometime in July.

People involved in elite sports will be exempted from quarantine regulations which should allow Champions League football and Test match cricket to resume.

Football-The English Championship will resume on the 20th of June more than three months after games were suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.

There are 108 matches to be played plus the play-off semi finals and final.

On Sunday ,the UK government gave the green light for domestic competitive sport to resume and there will be both horseracing and snooker for fans to enjoy today with all events played behind closed doors.

Rugby Union-There’s still confusion as to when English Premiership and Guinness Pro 14 fixtures will resume with many coaches saying that players need several weeks of training before they’ll be match fit.

Safety and hygiene regulations to prevent the spread of coronavirus have been discussed by World Rugby but there is still no clear protocol.

Racing-A ten card race is being staged in Newcastle today in the first action on the turf since March the 17th.

All races will be restricted to 12 runners and the meeting will be held behind closed doors.

Royal Ascot is due to go ahead on the 16th of June.

Weather 

Mainly fine in coastal areas ,some showers inland this afternoon and light variable winds.

Top temperatures 23-25 degrees.

Overnight lows of 18 degrees on the coast and 15 degrees inland with partially cloudy skies.

Tuesday and Wednesday-Partially cloudy in coastal areas ,thunderstorms inland.Highs of 21-24 degrees.