i'm tom murchison. thank you for joining us. we begin in f france, where despite a continuing decline in the number of patients being care, theo intensive covid-19 crisis is far from over. 516 new deaths from the virus hahave been presented for the pt when he for hours. this brings the total death toll to nearly 22,000. while some lockdown measures could be eased by may 11 -- but only if it is deemed safe. today, french president emmanuel macron is holding talks with her presented is from the hospitality and tourismsm industries, by videoconference. the secretary of state for the economy says the government is planning to start disturbing face masks to the general public in early may. alison sargent tells us more about the possible logistics for that. alison: face masks for all of france before the end of thee lockdown. it is a straightforward promise, but the details are still being worked out. by the end of april, authorities say they wiwill have 25 million cloth masks a week. some will be made in france, others imported from