French citizens in the north of France are getting ready to observe a weekend lockdown to contain the spread of new coronavirus variants.
French citizens in the north of France are getting ready to observe a weekend lockdown after authorities announced the measure on Thursday (March 4).
To contain the spread of new coronavirus variants in France, Prime Minister Jean Castex extended COVID-19 weekend lockdowns to the region around the Channel coast town of Calais, following similar lockdowns around Nice and Dunkirk.
The lockdown will be in place in the Pas-de-Calais department, which counts 1.4 million residents in northern France, from this weekend.
The incidence rate there hit 400 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, double the national average. The number of new infections surged by 23 percent in the last five days.
As in Alpes-Maritimes and Dunkirk, people in Pas-de-Calais have to stay at home from 6 a.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Sunday, announced Castex at the weekly press conference on the sanitary situation.
He said that three departments, Hautes-Alpes, Aisne and Aube, are added to the list of high-alert zones, where large malls will close and mask-wearing will be reinforced in all urban areas starting from Friday midnight.
Local authorities will have the power to impose a ban on public gatherings on weekends in most crowded areas in these departments "under reinforced surveillance," Castex said, calling on inhabitants to limit their travel as much as possible.
"Next weekends, even if you don`t have to stay at home, limit your social interaction. We have to hold on together.
"In one year, a lot has changed. We learned about the impact of lockdown, its social, economic, and human impact," he said, adding that another lockdown is "not impossible but it is not inevitable".
Viral circulation in France increased over a couple of weeks mainly due to the virus variant first detected in Britain, which "now represents over 60 percent of infections", said Castex.
France plans to massively expand COVID-19 vaccinations in high-risk zones. The country aims to vaccinate at least 10 million people by mid-April, 20 million by mid-May and 30 million by the summer, Castex said.
So far, 3,235,684 people have received at least the first jab, and 1,781,750 of them have got both doses, according to the prime minister.
He added that vaccine deliveries "will increase in the coming weeks" to 22 million doses over the March-April period, compared with 7 million shots received during the first two months of the year.
On Thursday, another 25,279 people tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the country`s cumulative cases to 3,895,430.
The overall death toll reached 87,835 after 293 patients died in the last 24 hours, according to health authorities.
Cases have been rising at a steady weekly rate of just above 4% since early January, although this is far below rises of more than 20% seen before and during a nationwide lockdown in November.
The virus continued to circulate, but it was not rising exponentially as some experts predicted, said Castex.
"The fastest and most targeted vaccine rollout will allow us to get out of the tunnel," he added.
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