French President Emmanuel Macron has announced in an address to the nation that France will go back into a nationwide lockdown starting this week to try to contain the COVID-19 pandemic that is again threatening to spiral out of control.
The new measures announced by President Macron – which will start on Friday, 30th October and last until December 1 – will mean people have to stay in their homes except to buy essential goods, seek medical attention, or use their daily one-hour allocation of exercise.
Anyone leaving their home will have to carry a special document justifying being outside, which can be checked by police, Macron said.
He added that restaurants, cafes and shops not selling essential goods will have to close down for at least the next two weeks.
President Macron also stated in his address that people will still be allowed to go to work if their employer deems it impossible for them to do the job from home, and schools will remain opened.
“The virus is circulating at a speed that not even the most pessimistic forecasts had anticipated,” Macron said. “We are all in the same position: overrun by a second wave which we know will be harder, more deadly than the first.”
“I’ve decided that we need to return to the lockdown which halted the virus,” Macron said.
Addressing the French nation, he said, “I have faith in us, in you, faith in our ability to overcome this challenge … We will get over this if we are united, and we are united.”
The new measures echo the eight-week lockdown that France enforced earlier in the year, when hospitalizations and deaths caused by the COVID-19 epidemic reached a peak.
The lockdown was effective at containing the epidemic, but the virus started spreading again after relaxing rules starting May 11.
Meanwhile, Germany has also announced sweeping nationwide restrictions. Earlier, German Chancellor, Angela Merkel said her country had to “act now” and called for a “major national effort” to fight the spread of coronavirus.
“Our health system can still cope with this challenge today, but at this speed of infection it will reach the limits of its capacity within weeks,” Mrs Merkel said.
The news that two of Europe’s largest economies were partially locking down again sent world stock markets lower and came after Ireland imposed less drastic measures last week.
Additionally in England, a new study estimates almost 100,000 people are actually catching the virus every day, with researchers warning that “something has to change.”
“We are deep in the second wave,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “I think that this year’s Christmas will be a different Christmas.”
France on 27th October reported 523 new deaths from coronavirus during the previous 24 hours, the highest daily toll since April, when the virus was at its most severe. Doctors have warned that intensive care units risk becoming overwhelmed.
France’s death toll, at more than 35,000, is the seventh highest in the world. Earlier in October, President Macron announced a night-time curfew in Paris and other big cities, but officials this week acknowledged that measure had proved insufficient to bring down infection rates, requiring a more drastic response.
