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French President Emmanuel Macron.
- France will enter its third lockdown on Saturday in an attempt to roll back a third wave of Covid-19 infections.
- Schools will close for three weeks after the weekend, President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday.
- New daily infections in France have doubled since February to almost 40,000.
President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday ordered France into its third national shutdown, saying schools would close for three weeks as he sought to roll back a third wave of Covid-19 infections that threatens to overwhelm hospitals.
With the death toll approaching 100,000, intensive care units in the hardest hit regions breaking point, and a vaccine launch slower than planned, Macron was forced to abandon his goal of keeping the country open to protect. the economy.
“We will lose control if we don’t move now,” the president said in a televised address to the nation.
Their announcement means that movement restrictions already in place for more than a week in Paris, and some northern and southern regions, will now apply to the entire country for at least a month, starting Saturday.
Building on his promise to safeguard education from the pandemic, Macron said schools will close for three weeks after this weekend.
The 43-year-old Macron has tried to avoid a third full-scale lockdown since the beginning of the year, betting that if he could pull France out of the pandemic without locking down the country again, he would give the economy a chance to recover from last year. . depression.
But the former investment banker’s options narrowed as the most contagious strains of the coronavirus spread across France and much of Europe.
For school-age children, after this weekend, learning will take place remotely for a week, after which all schools will have a two-week vacation. Thereafter, kindergarten and elementary school students will return to school, while middle and high school students will continue distance learning for another week.
“It is the best solution to curb the virus,” Macron said, adding that France had managed to keep its schools open longer during the pandemic than many neighbors.
New daily infections in France have doubled since February to almost 40,000. The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care has surpassed 5,000, surpassing the peak reached during a six-week lockdown late last year.
Bed capacity in critical care units will increase to 10,000, Macron said.
The new restrictions run the risk of slowing the pace of recovery in the euro zone’s second-largest economy since last year’s recession.
Macron said it was necessary to speed up the launch of the vaccine. It is only now finding its rhythm after three months, with only 12% of the population inoculated.
