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ORLY: French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) the closure of schools across the country and a limited closure as he defended his controversial strategy to tackle rising coronavirus (Covid-19) infections.
The 43-year-old leader has come under fire from political opponents and many health experts in recent weeks as the rampant virus left hospitals overwhelmed at hotspots like Paris.
In late January, Macron bucked the European trend and went against the recommendation of his scientific advisers by deciding that France would not enter a third lockdown.
In a speech to the nation, he tightened restrictions significantly on Wednesday, ordered school closings, travel restrictions in France and the closure of non-essential stores across the country.
But it stopped short of requiring people to stay in their homes or avoid socializing altogether and allowed people to move between regions over the upcoming Easter weekend.
“We have adopted a strategy since the beginning of the year that aims to contain the epidemic without locking ourselves in,” he said.
Not closing in January meant “we won precious weeks of freedom, weeks of learning for our children, we allowed hundreds of thousands of workers to keep their heads above water, without losing control of the epidemic,” he argued.
The question in the coming days will be whether the new measures are enough to reverse the sharp increase in infections that have been accumulating to more than 40,000 a day, double their level at the beginning of the month.
More than 53,000 new cases were announced Wednesday night, but that number covered two days after the numbers were not released Tuesday. The country also recorded 304 new deaths, bringing its total number to 95,667.
With hot weather and sunshine on Wednesday, groups of young people could be seen congregating in public spaces around Paris, ignoring the rules prohibiting the consumption of alcohol outside.
Before Macron’s leadership, the French Hospital Federation had urged him to order “a strict closure immediately.”
Macron said current efforts to limit the virus “were too limited at a time when the epidemic is accelerating” and warned that the spread of the most contagious British variant meant “we risk losing control.”
He said kindergartens, kindergartens and elementary schools would close for three weeks starting Monday while high schools would close for four weeks, but this would include two weeks of spring break.
Starting Saturday night and for the next four weeks, travel restrictions will be imposed across the country and non-essential stores will close in line with measures already in place at coronavirus hotspots like Paris, he said.
But in a more optimistic tone for the medium term, he said that some cultural venues and café terraces would reopen in mid-May “under strict rules.” “Thanks to the vaccine, the way out of the crisis is emerging,” he said.
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