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Millions of people in France’s largest cities are enjoying their last night of freedom before the strict 9 p.m. curfew that went into effect on Friday night.
France is battling a resurgent epidemic that has now filled a third of the country’s intensive care units with COVID-19 patients and is once again putting Europe to the test.
President Emmanuel Macron announced curfews for around 20 million people in the Paris region and eight other French metropolitan areas starting tonight to try to stem the tide.
France has seen its case totals skyrocket during the second coronavirus wave, reporting 25,000 cases on Friday along with 178 deaths. The case numbers are an increase of 5,000 in the same period last week.
Millions of French people enjoy one last night of freedom before the Covid-19 curfew takes effect in Paris and other large cities, as the government aims to reduce the peak in new cases.
People wear protective masks as they gaze at the Paris skyline from Montmartre at dusk, just hours before the nightly city-wide curfew goes into effect in Paris, France.
People in protective masks walk near the Eiffel Tower hours before the new curfew
People enjoy a drink on the terrace of a restaurant in Lille, northern France, before the city’s curfew
The capital will now close for nine hours from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., in an attempt to stem the circulation of the disease, President Emmanuel Macron revealed earlier this week.
This strict state of emergency measure also applied to Lille, Rouen, Saint-Etienne, Toulouse, Lyon, Grenoble, Aix-en-Provence, and Montpellier.
All bars, restaurants, theaters and similar businesses will have to close at 9 p.m. sharp starting Saturday, Macron said.
In a live television interview on Wednesday night, Frenchman Macron confirmed that France was now “being hit by the second wave.”
“This virus that we have known from the beginning and that has been attacking us for eight months, is making a comeback,” he said.
‘We have not lost control. We are in a worrisome situation and that justifies that we are not inactive or in a panic.
“It is equally worrying in other European countries, such as Germany, which is also taking restrictive measures.
“Spain and the Netherlands are also in a very worrying situation, and have taken very restrictive measures in recent days.”
A state of health emergency was previously declared in France in March in response to escalating infections when the first wave of Covid-19 hit.
Macron said this state of emergency will now be reintroduced, along with other stricter measures, starting Saturday.
It followed the increase in the number of Covid-19 infections by 26,896 in 24 hours last Saturday, a record since widespread testing began.
Macron’s last big television speech was on July 14, Bastille Day, and face masks have been mandatory ever since.
France first entered a strict lockdown in March, when all bars and restaurants were closed and people needed passes to go out for an hour.
But a panel of experts created to assess France’s response to the pandemic reported Tuesday that there were “clear failures of anticipation, preparation and management.”
France is deploying 12,000 agents to enforce the curfew that will take effect on Friday night.
People gather around a street food truck in Marseille, southeastern France, before curfew
The government will spend another 1 billion euros to help businesses affected by the new restrictions, as cities like Lille (pictured) face a strict 9pm curfew to curb new cases.
There were particular problems with a shortage of masks at first, and authorities were slow to introduce the tests.
Martin Hirsch, director of the 39 hospitals in the Paris metropolitan area, warned: “Around October 24, there will be a minimum of 800 to 1000 Covid patients in intensive care, which represents 70 to 90 percent of our capacity. current”.
Macron said emergency unemployment wages of “100 percent for the employer will be reactivated” during the curfew in the leisure sector, to include hotels, cafes and restaurants.
Employees would receive 84 percent of net wages, Macron said.
Macron said he didn’t want people “to go bankrupt because of this curfew, as was the case during the shutdown.”
Those caught on the streets after 9pm and before 6am will be subject to fines equivalent to £ 122 (€ 135), increasing to £ 1,353 (€ 1500) for repeat offenders.
Despite this, nightly public transportation will continue for the four weeks of the curfew, with passes allowed for essential workers.
A man holds up a sign that reads ‘A bar is the people’s parliament’ in the Place Charles de Gaulle before the night curfew due to restrictions against the spread of the coronavirus disease
French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation during a televised interview from the Elysee Palace, announcing that Paris and eight other major cities will now close for nine hours from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., in an attempt to slow the spread of the Covid-19, which will last a month
The government continues to send mixed messages about the virus. In addition to the curfew in several cities, the prime minister announced a national ban on public weddings on Thursday, even as the president encouraged French people to travel as usual for the upcoming fall school holidays.
The government announced that it will deploy 12,000 police officers to enforce the new curfew and spend another € 1 billion to help companies hardest hit by the latest virus restrictions.
“Our compatriots thought that this health crisis was behind us,” Castex said. “But we cannot go back to living normally while the virus is here.”
France is recording nearly 180 virus cases per 100,000 people each week, with a total of 22,591 new cases on Wednesday. It has reported one of the highest virus-related death figures in the world, with more than 33,000 lives lost.
