Castex (C), flanked by French Health Minister Olivier Veran (L),
speaks to medical staff during a visit to Marseille, southern
France, on October 24, 2020. AFP
France could announce tougher measures later this week
to bring the coronavirus under control after the number of daily
cases topped 50,000 for the first time, government sources
suggested on Monday.
President Emmanuel Macron will gather his top ministers Tuesday
to review efforts to curtail the outbreak, his office said.
Prime minister, Jean Castex, will then hold talks with political
chiefs and labour union officials before ministers gather for
another meeting with Macron on Wednesday.
The meetings will focus on “the tougher measures under
consideration to manage the health crisis,” an official in Castex’s
office told AFP, on condition of anonymity.
Macron has also called off a visit to a nuclear power plant in
eastern France on Wednesday because of the spiralling number of
Covid-19 cases, his office said.
Tighter restrictions announced in several European countries
have fuelled speculation that France will also have to clamp down
further on an outbreak that is again filling hospitals to the
brim.
On October 17, a nighttime curfew came into effect for Paris and
several other cities where virus cases are soaring, affecting some
46 million people, and bars nationwide have been ordered to
close.
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The government has said it wants to avoid another outright
lockdown like the one imposed for two months last spring when
intensive care units were overwhelmed with coronavirus
patients.
Yet the exponential rise in new cases could force authorities to
take more drastic action to ensure social distancing, the head of
the government’s medical advisory panel said Monday.
“We knew that we would have this second wave, but we are
surprised at the severity of what we’ve seen over the past 10
days,” Jean-Francois Delfraissy told RTL radio.
He said there were two options for getting the new outbreak
under control — make the curfew come into effect before the current
time of 9:00 pm and extend its reach, or else impose a lockdown but
allow schools to remain open.
“This second wave will probably be worse than the first one,”
Delfraissy said, adding that “many of our fellow citizens don’t yet
realise what’s coming.”
On Sunday, the national health agency said 17 per cent of people
being tested for the virus are now positive, up from 4.5 per cent
in early September.
It said 52,010 Covid-19 cases were recorded in the previous 24
hours, and 116 deaths, bringing the total to 34,761 since the start
of the outbreak.
AFP
Read more https://swordpress.com.ng/2020/10/27/france-braces-for-tougher-restrictions-as-covid-19-cases-soar/