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According to data released by the Health Department on Tuesday night, the number of deaths from Covid-19 infection increased by 523 to 35,541 in the last 24 hours from 266 the day before and 258 the day before.
The president even said last week that the impact of a nightly curfew extended to two-thirds of French people in the hospital care system should be expected, and only then, at the earliest on Thursday, would the government decide whether a greater hardening. In recent days, however, all epidemic indicators have risen so significantly that the head of state called a meeting of the Defense Council on Tuesday morning with the participation of relevant ministers and scientists.
Government sources said a final decision on the expected “unpopular” restrictions could be made at another Defense Council meeting ahead of Wednesday’s government meeting. Prime Minister Jean Castex has indicated that “more measures are needed” to curb the spread of the epidemic. He added that the government will present its proposal to parliament on Thursday.
According to the leaks, of the possible scenarios, the presidential office will favor the national quarantine, which, however, will be less rigorous than in spring. At the same time, there is talk of advancing the start of the night curfew from 9 am to 7 pm, and also introducing a weekend quarantine.
The reopening of schools on November 2, following the current fall break, has become questionable.
Jean-Francois Delfraissy, head of the scientific council together with the government, has already indicated this Monday that the generalized quarantine seems increasingly inevitable due to the “brutal” second wave of the coronavirus epidemic, which promises to be stronger than the first.
In the past 24 hours, authorities have discovered 33,417 new nights, following a record 26,771 on Monday and more than 50,000 on Sunday.
It is also cause for concern that the number of hospital admissions is increasing dramatically. Currently, 18,955 people are in need of hospital care, 2,909 of them are in intensive care units, an increase of 431 from Monday. More than half of the 5,800 intensive care units available in the country are for coronavirus patients, with 90 percent in the southern part of the country and 75 percent in the capital.
Employers’ organizations say another national lockdown like the spring could lead to an economic collapse.
“If there is a complete shutdown, like in March, we are heading for a collapse of the French economy from which we may not even be able to recover,” said Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, director of MEDEF, the largest employers’ organization.
Cover image: Getty Images
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