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The French will only be allowed to leave their homes to buy food, medical appointments, urgent family reasons and to go to work, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Thursday before a new Covid-19 shutdown starting at midnight.
France enters its second nationwide lockdown this year starting Friday, amid a surge in Covid-19 cases that has threatened to overwhelm French hospitals.
In detailing the new restrictions, Castex said people will be allowed to go outside for only one hour of exercise per day and no more than a kilometer from their homes.
For each exit, people must carry a document that justifies their presence abroad.
Travel within France, including vacation homes, will be banned, although borders with EU countries will remain open, the prime minister said. Visits to friends or family are also prohibited.
Hours earlier, the lower house of France’s parliament approved the new measures by 399 votes to 27 after a debate that was paused to maintain a minute’s silence for the victims of a deadly knife attack on a church in the southern city of Nice. .
Under the new measures, French schools will require all students ages six and older to wear face masks in class, Castex said.
Until now, masks were mandatory only for students 11 and older, but Castex told lawmakers in parliament that new efforts were needed “to protect all of our children, teachers and parents.”
Businesses that may remain open include garages, grocery stores, laundries, opticians, and newsstands.
Hotels will be allowed to maintain reduced activity for work related travel.
Places of worship will remain open, but ceremonies will not be allowed, the prime minister added.
Close until Christmas?
In a speech to the nation on Wednesday night, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that “the virus is spreading through France at a speed that even the most pessimistic ones did not predict.”
The new nationwide lockdown will initially apply until December 1, Macron announced.
He said the lockdown could start to ease once Covid-19 infections drop to about 5,000 per day from around 40,000 per day today.
Macron sends France back into lockdown as cases spiral out of control
But the government’s scientific adviser, Professor Jean-François Delfraissy, warned Thursday that the lockdown may have to extend beyond December 1.
Speaking on France Inter radio, Delfraissy said the goal of reducing infections to 5,000 a day was unlikely to be achieved by the end of November.
“By December 1, we will not be at 5,000 contaminations per day. I can tell you that right now. We will need more time,” said Delfraissy, who heads the scientific council that advises the French government on the pandemic.
“The scenario is rather to have this one-month lockdown period, look at the different types of markers and then get out of this containment through, for example, a curfew that could continue until December, possibly also covering Christmas and New Years Eve. , and finish it only at the beginning of January, ”he said.
France reported 244 new virus deaths in the last 24 hours and more than 36,000 new positive tests on Wednesday.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)
