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The President of France, Emmanuel macron, announced this Wednesday a new national confinementl to curb the increase in covid-19 cases from Friday until at least December 1.
(Read here: France and Germany tighten measures in the face of the second wave of covid-19)
“The virus is circulating in France at a speed that not even the most pessimistic forecasts had anticipated“Macron said in a speech broadcast on television.
Bars, restaurants and nonessential businesses will close, but unlike the two-month lockdown imposed between March and May, schools will remain open.
Factories and farms will be able to continue operating and public services will remain open to limit economic paralysis.
Like last spring, the French “will be able to leave their home just to go to work, for a medical visit, to help a relative, to do essential shopping or to go out briefly for air,” Macron said.
They will be able to leave their home only to go to work, for a medical visit, to help a relative, to do essential shopping or to go out briefly for air.
Written statements justifying departure will be required, he said, suggesting that fines will be reimposed on violators.
“If in two weeks we have the situation under a better control, we will be able to reassess things and we hope to open some businesses, in particular for the Christmas holidays,” he said.
“I hope we can celebrate Christmas and New Years with the family.”he added. In the last 24 hours, 372 new patients with Covid-19 were admitted to intensive care, so there are already more than 3,000 patients in these units nationwide.
(Also read: The drastic measures in Europe to stop the second wave of coronavirus)
The fear is above all the saturation of these units, where more than half of the available beds are already occupied, in a country that exceeded 50,000 daily infections, 35,000 deaths since March and one million cases.
AFP
