French President Emmanuel Macron announced new lockdown rules amid a spike in Covid-19 cases through a televised address to the nation.
Under the new rule, people in France will have to fill out a form to leave their homes, as was the case in the country’s first shutdown, and it will be in effect until December 1, Euro News reported.
The new rules will be re-evaluated every 15 days to check for growing Covid-19 cases. Deaths from Covid-19 in France are currently at their highest level since the peak of the pandemic in April and 33,000 new cases of the virus were recorded on Tuesday.
“The evolution of the virus in France has surpassed ‘even the most pessimistic projections,'” Macron said.
Click here for full coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic
Amid the new lockdown rules, which will go into effect Friday, it was announced that the school and daycare centers will remain open. People will be allowed to leave their homes for essential work purposes, medical appointments and grocery shopping, Euro News reported.
French international borders will remain closed and compulsory tests will be carried out on anyone entering the country.
“A ‘special plan’ will be designed to help the self-employed, traders, as well as very small businesses (VSE) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are financially affected by the closure and employees who cannot work, they will benefit from a licensing scheme and will receive cash for expenses and rent in the coming weeks, “added Macron.
The restrictions introduced in recent weeks, which included curfews in some of the worst affected areas of France, were insufficient to combat a second wave, the leader added.
Additionally, Macron said he hoped French families could celebrate Christmas and the New Year together after the national lockdown ended.
.
