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The French President is rumoured to be set on announcing another sweeping lockdown to combat France’s spiralling coronavirus cases. France recorded 33,417 new cases, as well as 523 new deaths, yesterday. It comes as Mr Macron is facing a wave of unrest from the French, with anti-lockdown protests sweeping across Europe.
France’s BFM TV reported Mr Macron’s government is considering a month-long lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Mr Macron is scheduled for a televised address tonight at 8pm, where he will either announced another lockdown or other sets of restrictions.
The French government would not confirm whether the President will announce any such measure.
But BFM TV added the new lockdown would be “more flexible” than in Spring, with less rules on November.
Yesterday’s 523 deaths is the highest figure France has recorded since April.
The rumoured lockdown follows Professor Eric Caumes, France’s head of infectious diseases at Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, urging Mr Macron to act on the country’s surging cases.
He said in an interview with Franceinfo: “The virus is so present among us that I think that today we have no choice but to reconfine.
“We lost control of the epidemic a few weeks ago. The Prime Minister has acknowledged this, the Minister of Health.”
While it is not confirmed the President will be reimposing lockdown restrictions, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told French citizens to “expect difficult decisions” from Mr Macron tonight.
Mr Macron is also set to host two emergency defence council meetings to discuss any further restrictions imposed on France.
Sources close to the government have claimed options being explored for some regions may include confining people to their homes at weekends, closing non-essential shops and starting curfew measures earlier.
It is also expected that schools may remain open with more restrictions on people’s movement, according to BFM TV.
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France is also suffering from a shortage of intensive care unit spaces to handle the surge in coronavirus patients.
The country has seen a further 1,194 people hospitalised from Monday to Tuesday, for a total of 18,978.
More than 2,500 French patients are also currently in ICU wards, which is just over half of the country’s capacity.
Jean-François Delfraissy, president of the Conseil Scientifique, also estimated on Monday there are actually 100,000 positive cases nationwide per day, including the asymptomatic cases.
Mr Macron introduced a strict 9pm curfew last month to combat the spread of the virus in major cities.
Just five days ago the measure was extended as coronavirus cases continued to rise.
Prime Minister Jean Castex said, when announcing the extended curfews, that “the second wave is now under way”.
He added: “If we fail to stop the pandemic, we will be facing a dire situation and we will have to mull much tougher measures.
“We still have time to avoid that but we don’t have much time.”
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