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French President Emmanuel Macron.
France will return to a national lockdown starting this week to try to contain the Covid-19 pandemic that is again threatening to spiral out of control, French President Emmanuel Macron said in a speech to the nation on Wednesday.
It will last at least until December 1.
The new measures echo the eight-week lockdown France imposed in the spring, when hospitalizations and deaths caused by the Covid-19 epidemic peaked.
But unlike the previous closure, most schools will remain open, Macron said.
France reported 523 new deaths from coronavirus in the previous 24 hours on Tuesday, the highest daily figure since April, when the virus was most severe. Doctors have warned that intensive care units run the risk of being overwhelmed.
The death toll in France, of more than 35,000, is the seventh highest in the world, according to Reuters data.
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