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The curfew that will take effect on Tuesday will last from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., with the exception of December 24, when families are invited to celebrate Christmas, but with a maximum of six adults per household.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex gestures during a press conference on restrictions to fight the COVID-19 virus, in Paris on December 10, 2020. Image: AFP
PARIS – The French government said on Thursday that it would lift the six-week coronavirus lockdown as expected on Tuesday, but will impose a curfew starting at 8 p.m., including on New Years Eve, as the number of infections increases again.
Prime Minister Jean Castex ended the days of speculation about the end-of-year holidays by confirming that families could travel to celebrate Christmas together.
But in a blow to the cultural sector, he said that museums, theaters and cinemas, which expected to recoup some of their losses during the holidays, would be closed for three more weeks, as would soccer stadiums.
Castex said the situation had “improved considerably” since France entered a second lockdown on October 30, noting that the number of new infections had dropped from nearly 50,000 a day at the end of October to around 10,000.
But the decline “has slowed in recent days,” he said.
“We’re kind of on a plateau,” Castex said, warning that if the French let their guard down they could face a third blockade in the coming months.
The curfew that will go into effect on Tuesday will last from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., with the exception of December 24, when families are invited to celebrate Christmas, but with a maximum of six adults per household.
Health Minister Olivier Veran admitted that France would miss its target of a maximum of 5,000 new cases per day by Tuesday, when the shutdown ends.
On Thursday, the country recorded nearly 14,000 infections in the previous 24 hours, compared with 12,000 in the previous week.
“We are still not out of the second wave” of the epidemic, Veran said.
President Emmanuel Macron had initially conditioned the lifting of the blockade at the level of 5,000 cases, but he revised his stance to give the French some relief after weeks of imprisonment.
The restrictions were partially relaxed on November 28, when companies selling “non-essential” goods and services, such as bookstores and hairdressers, were allowed to reopen.
But bars and restaurants remained closed and people still needed to fill out self-signed permission forms to leave their homes.
The total death toll in France since the start of the pandemic stands at more than 55,000.
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