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In view of the skyrocketing rise in new corona infections, France will enter a partial lockdown. As of the weekend, people in Paris and eight other Corona hotspots will no longer be able to leave their homes between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Prime Minister Jean Castex rejected exceptions, for example for the cultural sector .
“Everyone has to be home by 9pm,” Prime Minister Castex said of the new curfews for the metropolitan areas of Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Rouen, Saint-Etienne, Grenoble, Toulouse. and Montpellier. There are exceptions for trips to work, medical reasons, walking a dog, or caring for a loved one.
There are no exceptions for culture.
Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said this would cost the economy less than a national shutdown. However, the classification as a risk zone in the French border area with Germany caused unrest.
France’s Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot had previously described the exceptions for cinemas, theaters and concert halls as conceivable and thus raised hope. Cultural institutions in the affected cities must now close at 9:00 p.m., as well as restaurants.
France reported more than 25,000 new corona infections in one day on Friday night, the day before it was even more than 30,000. The death toll from corona increased by 122 on Friday to a total of 33,303 since the pandemic began.
The new curfews are the toughest measure in France since the end of the national lockdown on May 11. During the visit to the University Hospital in Lille, Prime Minister Castex emphasized that the government wanted to help hospitals that were again under pressure in the second corona wave.
According to Castex, “almost 40” per cent of the intensive care beds at Lille University Hospital are occupied by corona patients, and in Paris it is even more. Many hospitals could hit their limits again by the end of October.
A German travel warning “for the whole of France” will also take effect on Saturday, as announced by the Foreign Ministry. Only overseas territories like New Caledonia and French Polynesia are not affected, but the Foreign Ministry “urgently advises against” traveling here as well.
The border area with Alsace, Lorraine and the Champagne-Ardenne administrative district will also be considered a risk zone for the first time since mid-June, as announced by the Robert Koch Institute. This caused uncertainty in the region.
No quarantine when crossing the border
“The borders will not be closed”, assured the affected French region of Grand Est. Baden-Württemberg, Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate also announced that the borders would remain open. Daily life, work and study should not be “paralyzed by a total lockdown”, declared Prime Ministers Winfried Kretschmann (Greens), Tobias Hans (CDU) and Malu Dreyer (SPD). During the first Corona wave in spring, Germany had largely sealed the border with France.
According to the three federal states, cross-border travelers can move “within 24 hours in the border area” without restrictions. The French do not have to submit a negative corona test or go into quarantine to buy in Germany.
For family reunions, doctor visits or compelling professional reasons, even 72-hour exceptions are planned, said French MP Christophe Arend of France Bleu radio station. In France, there is no quarantine requirement for travelers from Germany.
