Mayors representing the Ile-de-France region, which includes France's capital city Paris, have urged President Emmanuel Macron to delay reopening schools in the country as the war against COVID-19 rages on.

In an open letter to the president, the mayors called for the reopening of learning institutions to be delayed until after May 11.

President Macron announced on May 1 that schools would be allowed to reopen from May 11 as part of the government's efforts to gradually reopen the country after a lockdown that has been in place since mid-march.

The 329 signatories to the letter addressed to the president say that they want more consultation and more time "to allow for the strict application of an equally stringent health protocol."

The mayors likened the plans to lift the lockdown to a "forced march" carried through "even as we do not yet have all the information to ready the population, and the directives keep shifting.”

France is one of the worst affected countries globally by the COVID-19 pandemic. The country has registered 168,925 infections and 24,900 deaths, according to data from the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

In their letter to President Macron, the mayors called on the government to "clearly prioritise the children who will be able/should be able to return to school taking into account the family context of each child".

Source(s): France 24