Alert level 2: Retail, malls, cafes, restaurants, cinema and other public spaces can reopen this Thursday. Schools will reopen on May 18 and bars on May 21.
The sad reality of physical distancing at school has been captured by a French reporter.
The photo of an unnamed school in Tourcoing, on the Belgium border, shows the preschoolers being forced to play alone in squared off areas.
Schools and nurseries reopened in the coronavirus-ravaged country this week after eight weeks of lockdown.
French journalist Lionel Top shared the photos on Twitter, saying the children were told to stay in their "isolation sections".
"To ensure respect for distances, while taking advantage of recreation, the teaching team drew squares on the ground for the little ones," Top tweeted, along with the photo.
"The children play, dance, jump, laugh together … but from this square. From what we have seen, they do not view it as a punishment."
Les enfants font leur rentrée aujourd’hui (un petite partie d’entre-eux plutôt). Ambiance très étrange, voire dérangeante... pic.twitter.com/g91y5hLatJ
"I can't get over this," historian Laurence De Cock wrote on Twitter.
"This image is heartbreaking. We can't call this 'school'."
Parent Myriam Cau said she had never seen such a sad picture.
"It's horrible to subject children to this."
Another person wrote, "Shameful for children but also for teachers and institutes! What horror!!!!"
France has recorded 178,184 cases of coronavirus cases and 27,077 deaths so far.
Experts are questioning how effective social distancing is, particularly for children.
"There's never been a scientific basis for two metres, it's kind of a rule of thumb," Nottingham Trent University sociology professor Robert Dingwall told BBC Radio.
"But it's not like there is a whole kind of rigorous scientific literature that it is founded upon.''
In New Zealand, schools will be re-opening on Monday as the country downgrades to alert level 2.
According to the Covid-19 website, where possible at schools, children, young people and staff should be far enough away from each other so that they are not breathing on or touching each other.
"There does not need to be a specific measurement but where practicable 1 metre can be used as a guide, particularly between adults," it reads.
