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Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Also in France, people have to adapt to new measures: according to Head of State Macron, strict contact restrictions will be applied from Friday to break the second corona wave in the country. Unlike spring, he wants to keep schools open.
With exit restrictions across the country, France is stepping up its fight against the second wave of the corona pandemic. The restrictions will apply from Friday, President Emmanuel Macron announced in a televised speech. The 42-year-old made it clear that restrictions are less stringent than they were in the spring, when public life in the country was largely at a standstill. So schools should stay open. However, bars and restaurants must close.
The measures are initially limited to December 1. “Stay home as much as possible,” Macron asked his compatriots. Macron made it clear that the situation is dire. “We are overwhelmed by the accelerating epidemic,” he said. The development also affects other European countries.
The new restrictions are not unexpected for the estimated 67 million French people. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal had already promised a “new stage” before the head of state’s speech. “The second wave is here,” the spokesman said after a cabinet meeting. You have to do everything you can to avoid being overwhelmed by this wave.
The situation worsens
At the cabinet meeting, the head of state spoke of a massive, widespread and largely unexpected deterioration in Europe. Macron also discussed the crown situation twice in two days at a national security council. So far, a night curfew has been applied to about two-thirds of the population, or about 46 million people.
The crown’s situation in the country has dramatically worsened for weeks. More recently, more than 36,400 new infections were recorded in 24 hours. The number of deaths associated with the coronavirus rose significantly: on Tuesday night, authorities reported 523. This returned to the high level of April. On Wednesday night authorities spoke of 244 dead, the total number now almost 35,800.
Attal spokesman said that within two weeks a situation similar to the peak of the first wave of epidemics threatens the intensive care units of hospitals. At the time, exit restrictions in France were among the strictest in Europe, schools were closed. Then citizens had to show certificates when they were searched on the street.
Attal said the health crisis was also causing an economic and social crisis in the country. “We respond strongly,” he said. There is fear in the country that public sector industries are increasingly threatened with closure. “In the hotel industry, gastronomy, culture, tourism and other places, many who until now have resisted as well as they can will no longer have the strength to face such a challenge for the second time,” warned the conservative daily “Le Figaro”.
The head of state had only addressed the citizens two weeks ago. At the time it announced night curfews for Paris and other metropolitan areas. Later, the central government of Prime Minister Jean Castex extended the restrictions to 54 departments and the overseas territory of French Polynesia. Criticism of the government’s crisis management came from the opposition. He had the impression of “constant improvisation,” the influential Conservative MP Eric Ciotti wrote on Twitter.
