The French government has imposed a month-long lockdown following a French vaccine rollout and the spread of highly contagious coronavirus variants, forcing President Emanuel Macron to change course.
Since the end of January, when he refused to call on scientists and some of his government to lock up the country, Macron has said he will do whatever it takes to keep the eurozone’s second-largest economy as open as possible. However, this week it pulled out of the options just as France and other European countries temporarily suspended the use of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine.
The Prime Minister, Jean Kastex, said on Thursday that France was in the grip of a third wave, with about 75% of cases now occurring in such a viral variant, first found in Britain. Intensive care wards are under severe stress, especially in Paris where every 100,000 population exceeds 400 infections. “The epidemic is getting worse. It is now our responsibility not to let it escape our control.
There were 35,000 new cases reported in France on Thursday and there were more covid patients in intensive care in Paris than the peak of the second wave. “Four weeks, enough time for the action to take effect. [It is] In the most sensitive vaccinations we need to reach the threshold, Kastex said.
The lockdown will begin at midnight on Friday in France’s 16 most affected sections, forming a corridor from Calais to the capital, with the exception of one on the Mediterranean. Nurses, clothing stores and furniture stores will have to be closed, although bookstores and other essentials may remain open.
Schools will remain open and people will be allowed to exercise outside the 10km (6.2 mile) radius of their homes. Travel to the most affected areas without compelling reason will not be allowed. The Prime Minister said, “Go out of town but don’t party with friends.”
Kastex said France would resume inoculation by the AstraZeneca vaccine after being confirmed safe by the European Drug Administration. Attempts to boost public confidence in the vaccine are crucial if France is to achieve its goals, Castex said he would take the pill on Friday. “I am confident that public confidence in this vaccine will be restored,” he said, although he acknowledged that it would take time.
However, Macron stopped short of ordering a nationwide lockdown, saying new sanctions could be extended to other regions if necessary and could still slow the country’s economic recovery. The Paris region has about one-fifth of the population and accounts for 30% of economic activities.
A nationwide night curfew has been in place since mid-December, although it will begin an hour later, at 7 p.m. The government has no regrets about not locking up earlier, Kastex said. “It simply came to our notice then. We would have had an unbearable lockdown of three months. We better not do that. ”
Not everyone agrees. In the intensive care unit of a private hospital on the outskirts of Paris, doctors again resigned for working with an overloaded ward. “We’re back here again,” said Ward Chief Abdid Vidad.
