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Day: 12 May 2020

Back to school like never before

by: Stephanie Horsman
12/05/2020

Social distancing, half full classrooms, masks, sanitary gel, no lunch service, one-way entries and exits… this is back to school, for some at least, in the new reality.
Monday 11th May saw the reopening of the Principality’s high schools, with students, teachers and administrators taking baby steps to slide back into a semblance of normal academic life after the eight week forced hiatus brought on by the health crisis.
After explaining last Thursday how this rentrée would work, Minister of the Interior Patrice Cellario and Isabelle Bonnal, Director of National Education for Youth and Sports, were on hand at Lycée Albert I along with Minister of State Serge Telle, to witness in person the first day back.

On Tuesday 12th, it was a portion of the primary schools’ pupils turn. Those attending middle school resume classes on the 18th May, along with 6eme and 3eme students. Finally, on the 25th May, the remaining classes, CP and CM2 will have their shot.
France’s schools began reopening yesterday, as well, and much like in Monaco, parents were torn about whether to send their children back to school or not. The schools are thoroughly sanitising toys, desks and public spaces, but the idea of enforcing the endless hand washing and distance between children, especially nursery age ones who will be eager to have playmates once again, seems pi in the sky to many parents.

Some educators in France agree and are deciding not to reopen schools full stop for the time being.
In any case, it may not even be possible for many kids to go back, as the limited class sizes mean that only a small number of students can be accommodated.
 
 

Retail sector sees deepest drop on record

by: Cassandra Tanti
12/05/2020

Monaco’s business climate “collapsed” in the retail, trade and auto repair sectors in the month of March, as restrictions to stem the spread of the coronavirus were put in place and shoppers reduced their spending on everything except the essentials.
According to statistics body IMSEE, in the month of March 2020 the synthetic indicator lost 29 points compared to February, reaching the lowest level ever recorded.
“Measures to contain the Covid-19 epidemic, such as confining and stopping ‘nonessential’ activities, have affected the return rate, which is significantly lower than that usually observed,” IMSEE said in its latest retail trade report released on Tuesday. “This brutal deterioration results from a downturn in the general outlook for activity, past sales and order intentions, and therefore a significant drop in the expected employment balance.”
With 800 establishments and €1.5 billion in turnover, the retail sector represents an important part of the Monegasque economy. The downturn will, unsurprisingly, take a significant chunk out of the Principality’s annual GDP.
“Although certain apprehensions linked to the development of the Covid-19 health crisis were observed as early as February, the implementation of containment measures from mid-March had a significant impact,” concluded the statistics body.
March figures show that sales dropped by 78 points compared to the previous month, while forecast sales deteriorated sharply (-85 points) and inventory levels fell well below their long-term average.
Orders also dropped significantly in March (-72). Prices did improve compared to the month of January but remained below normal levels. Meanwhile, expected prices trended downward. Both past and forecast employment were down sharply and were well below their averages at -20 and -37 points respectively.
The steep decline in retail trade was certainly not unique to Monaco. Retail sales in the euro zone suffered their largest decline on record in March as shoppers reduced their spending on everything except food and online orders.
Sales in the 19 countries sharing the euro zone fell by 11.2% in March from February and by 9.2% year-on-year, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat. The declines were sharper than market expectations of 10.5% and 8.0% respectively.
The month-on-month decline was the steepest in Eurostat data going back to 1999, while the year-on-year figure was the worst on record in data reaching back to 2000. It was also twice as large a decline as in February 2009, the worst month of the 2008-2009 financial crisis.
 
 

Herculis event to go ahead in August

by: Cassandra Tanti
12/05/2020

This year’s Herculis EBS Meeting has been rescheduled for 14th August – a major win for athletes and fans.
As Monaco prepares to gradually resume sporting activities in the Principality following the lockdown, the highly anticipated athletics sporting event, which was to be held on Friday 10th July at the Stade Louis II, has been put back – by only a month.
The organisation says it is working in close collaboration with the Monegasque public authorities, the Wanda Diamond League and World Athletics to ensure the best level of health security for the public and the athletes, while offering a very high level of competition.
In announcing the new date for the meeting, Prince Albert II, President of the Monegasque Athletics Federation, said: “Dear friends of Herculis, the current circumstances lead us, as you could have foreseen, to give up organising our Herculis EBS 2020 meeting on 10th July. But we are determined to see the athletes who, deprived of competition since the start of the season, can join us at Monaco later in the summer.
On 12th May, the Diamond League will publish the modified 2020 meeting calendar and Monaco will appear on Friday 14thAugust, with the support of World Athletics and in full agreement with the Monegasque government.
“It is for us to clearly indicate our will that sport can overcome all obstacles and play its role of unifier. This is why Herculis EBS will also be an opportunity to bring together all the sportsmen of Monaco whose events had to be cancelled due to the circumstances.”
Tickets already sold will be postponed to 14th August 2020 or refunded according to a procedure which will be communicated on the website www.herculis.com.
The 1,000 metre race competition, which is held each year as a preamble to the Herculis EBS Meeting, is cancelled.
 
Photo: Herculis EBS
 
 

Mairie gradually reopening public services

by: Stephanie Horsman
12/05/2020

As part of the government’s de-escalation plan, the Monaco City Council is slowly but surely reopening services and welcoming the public, under strict conditions.

Monaco’s municipal services are now progressively being opened after their forced closures during the health crisis, though several sites will remain closed until further notice.

The public is invited back, however they will be required to following government health recommendations, meaning all visitors and staff must be equipped with a protective face mask.

Since 4th May, a handful of offices have been taking appointments or restarting services. These include: 

– The Municipal Revenue Office

– The Service for Seniors and Social Action continues to provide all home maintenance services (services not interrupted during confinement). Those who need to go in person must make an appointment beforehand by contacting +377 93 15 28 35.

– The Municipal Police are re-reserving parking spaces by appointment by contacting +377 93 15 28 26.

– The Civil Status/Nationality Service will once again welcome the public under the following conditions:

The Civil Registry will be open Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 4pm with the 8:30am to 12:00pm slot reserved for certificats de vie and from 12pm to 16pm, they will handle all the other documents.

Birth declarations (+377 93 15 28 64) and marriage records (+377 15 28 66) will be available by appointment only. 

Wedding celebrations will resume from 18th May and can only take place in the presence of the bride and groom, their witnesses and their parents. 

The Nationality office will be open Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm and will receive people exclusively by appointment by contacting +377 93 15 28 10 or +377 93 15 28 16.

– The Condamine and Monte-Carlo Markets continue according to the procedures put in place during confinement: tracking, distancing, direct orders from traders and delivery 7 days a week, but wearing a mask is now compulsory not only inside but also outside the hall.

– The Display and Advertising Service is open. Paper displays will resume from 25th May.

The list of sites and establishments that will remain closed are:

– The municipal crèches. A possible reopening will be confirmed at the end of phase 2 of deconfinement. This is the end of May or beginning of June, depending on the evolution of the health situation. 

– The Mediatheque remains closed, but the teams continue to keep the link via the website www.médiathèque.mc as well as on the various social networks.

– The Rainier III Academy. Pre-registrations for next year will start on 25th May on their website www.academierainier3.mc, and re-registrations will start on 3rd July. 

– The Superior School of Plastic Arts – Bosio Pavilion. The entry for competition is organised by videoconference. 

– Finally, the Exotic Garden, the Princess Antoinette Park, all public toilets, the Espace Léo Ferré, the Rainier III Nautical Stadium, the Saint-Charles Swimming pool, the Hercule Fitness Club, A Casa d´i Soci, the Princess Stéphanie gymnastics halls and the Stade des Moneghetti will stay closed for the time being.

 The Mairie will update new openings as the health situation permits.

Prince speaks with post-doctorate fellows

by: Stephanie Horsman
12/05/2020

Prince Albert II spoke via video-conference to the five post-doctorate programme fellows from the ITER project, who have just completed their two year research assignments funded by the Principality.
As part of the ongoing fellowship programme created in 2007 under the backing of the International Atomic Energy Agency (AIEA), the ITER Postdoctoral Fellowship Project selects promising engineers or scientists from the affiliate countries, including Monaco, the USA, Russia, Japan, India, South Korea, and EU member states, to work alongside ITER specialists, contributing to the project through their own original research and work.
The latest fellowship went from 2018 to now and five hand-picked students were financed wholly by the Principality. Professor Bernard Bigot, ITER’s General Director, took the opportunity of the video call to personally thank the Sovereign Prince and the Principality for active participation and continued support. These thanks were reiterated by Dr. Tim Luce, Scientific Department Head at ITER.
Prince Albert II was joined on the Monaco end by Cabinet Advisor Anne-Marie Boisbouvier for the call.
The five fellows chosen by Monaco came from vastly different backgrounds and with different interests.
Spaniard Javier Artola obtained his PhD in plasma physics and fusion science at the University of Aix-Marseille in France where he researched the physics of large-scale plasma instabilities that typically arise in tokamaks. Using this expertise, Javier will assess the asymmetric forces that could act in the vacuum vessel during plasma vertical displacement events (VDEs).
Jonathan Coburn earned a PhD in nuclear engineering from North Carolina State University in the United States. Based on his experience in researching the impact of high heat fluxes on plasma-facing components, Jonathan will assess the long-term power handling capabilities of the beryllium first wall panels. This assessment will include modelling the erosion, melting, and deformation that may occur during severe plasma disruptions.
Jae-Sun Park received his PhD at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) working on boundary plasma simulations of KSTAR using ITER code. Building on this experience, he will develop a boundary plasma database for the non-active phase of the first three to four years of the ITER operation. The database will be used for boundary plasma physics research such as divertor detachment physics for sustainable divertor operation, as well as for the coupling to integrated models.
Armed with a PhD from the Swiss Plasma Center (SPC) at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, Joyeeta Sinha (India) will work on models for the different plasma diagnostics to determine the useful measurement range for plasma initiation during First Plasma. The methods to improve the diagnosis of plasma parameters for the First Plasma operation developed by Joyeeta will then be tested experimentally on other tokamaks such as JET.
Satoshi Togo earned his PhD at the University of Tokyo in 2016 and then worked as a researcher at the Plasma Research Center at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. At ITER, Satoshi focuses on investigating turbulent transport at the plasma edge of tokamaks, which is particularly important for ITER from the viewpoint of core plasma performance and the power flux deposition on plasma-facing components.
Based in Cadarache, France, the project is for the advancement of nuclear research based around the nuclear power plant situated there to demonstrate that nuclear energy is a clean, renewable, environmentally-friendly source of power for today and the future.
“The principal motivation of the research fellowships is the development of excellence in research in fusion science and technology within the ITER framework,” ITER explains on its website. “Brilliance and creativity, together with understanding of the relevance of the individual research interests to the ITER Project, are a key requirement.”
 
PHOTO: Gaëtan Luci / Palais Princier