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France will again enter a national “blockade” from Friday to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, President Emmanuel Macron said in a speech to the nation on Wednesday, Reuters and AFP reported.
“We have decided that we must return to the isolation that has stopped the virus since Friday. The provision is valid for the whole national territory,” the head of state said in a televised speech.
The new measures it announced, which will take effect on Friday, mean that people will have to stay in their homes except for the purchase of basic necessities, visits to the doctor or daily hours of outdoor exercise. People will need statements on their own responsibility to get out of the house.
The new block will be valid at least until 1 December. However, Macron said that if the health situation improves in two weeks, the government will consider reopening some stores considered non-essential, according to Agerpres.
People will still be allowed to go to work if the employer finds it impossible to work from home, and unlike the previous isolation in March, most schools will remain open.
Non-essential bars, restaurants and shops will be closed in France starting Friday as part of the new “lockdown,” Macron said.
“The virus is circulating at a speed that even the most pessimistic estimates did not foresee. Like all our neighbors, we are overwhelmed by the sudden increase in the spread of the virus,” Macron said in his speech.
“We are all in the same situation: overwhelmed by a second wave that we know will be harder, more lethal than the first,” he added.
France reported 523 new coronavirus deaths in a single day on Tuesday, the highest daily toll in April.
More than 3,000 COVID-19 patients in resuscitation
The number of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital for resuscitation exceeded 3,000 in France on Wednesday, a level that has not been recorded since the beginning of May, according to official data, AFP reports.
Three hundred and seventy-two new hospitalizations for resuscitation (or intensive care) were recorded on Tuesday, according to the database of the French Institute of Public Health. Taking into account the number of exits, the number of patients currently in intensive care has increased by 127 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 3,036.
As of Tuesday, more than half of the current resuscitation capacity is occupied by COVID-19 patients. France has a total of around 5,800 intensive care beds, a level that public authorities are looking to raise in the coming days.
More broadly, another 2,821 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 on Tuesday. More than 20,000 people are now admitted to French hospitals due to the novel coronavirus.
In the context of the serious deterioration of all indicators of the epidemic, President Emmanuel Macron will announce on Tuesday, at 20.00 local time, “a new stage” in the race for speed against the exponential spread of COVID-19.
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