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The president of France, Emmanuel macronannounced Wednesday that Paris and other major cities in the country will have to respect a curfew to stop the resurgence of COVID-19. The measure takes effect from Saturday and will be in effect for four weeks.
Speaking to the nation, Macron said that all cities on “high alert” for COVID-19 will have a curfew, which will start at 9 pm and remain until 6 am. The measure affects Paris, Lille, Lyon, Toulouse and other municipalities with high rates of disease transmission. Those who break the rules will be fined 135 euros.
“We are at a stage where we need to react,” said the French president when announcing the new measures.
Macron ruled out decreeing a new national confinement, as adopted during the first wave of cases of the disease, but said that the situation of the epidemic in the country is worrying.. According to him, a “confinement” would be disproportionate, in addition to restricting travel within France, which is still allowed.
On Wednesday, France declared a state of health emergency due to the resurgence of covid-19, a measure that gives the government more power to impose restrictions to slow the spread of the disease.
“Given its spread throughout the national territory, the covid-19 epidemic constitutes a health disaster that endangers, by its nature and severity, the health of the population. And it justifies the declaration of a state of health emergency so that measures strictly proportional to the health risks and appropriate to the circumstances of time and place can be taken, ”the note says.
In the last 24 hours, another 22,591 new cases of the disease have been confirmed throughout the country, according to the Ministry of Health. Also in the last 24 hours, France has seen an increase in the number of people admitted to intensive care units (ICU). According to government data, 1,633 of the roughly 5,000 ICU beds in the country are currently occupied. The situation is especially critical in Paris.
