Issued by: Change:
President Emmanuel Macron defended his decision to suspend the third lockout on Saturday, telling the public that he had faith in their ability to consolidate in COVID-19 with loops that did not was so hard even when the third wave spread and spread the vaccine.
From Sunday, France will close its borders to all necessary travel except to and from countries outside the European Union, and insiders must show a negative test. Large shopping centers will be closed and police patrols will be increased to enforce a 6pm curfew.
But Macron has stopped short of ordering a new lock during the day, saying it wants to see first if there are enough other measures to reduce the spread of the crown virus.
With 10% of cases now due to the more contagious discrepancy first detected in Britain, senior doctors have recommended lock-out, and one poll has shown that more on three-quarters of French people think that one is now inevitable. The census also showed a fall in public confidence in the government’s handling of the crisis.
“I have confidence in us. Those hours we are living through are crucial. We will do what we can to slow down the epilepsy,” Macron tweeted.
Admit J’ai en nous. Les heures que nous vivons sont cruciales. Faisons tout pour freiner l’épidémie ensemble.
– Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) January 30, 2021
Macron has also been on fire for distributing vaccines at a slower rate than other major EU countries, and at a much slower pace than Britain or the United States. The latest figures in France show that they have given just 1.45 million doses of vaccine so far. By comparison, Britain has recorded 8.4 million.
France reported 24,393 new COVID-19 infections on Saturday, up from 22,858 the previous day, while the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients remained above 27,000 for a fifth straight day.
The rate of new infections is still lower than when the last lockout was ordered in October, but hospitalization rates are already comparable.
Paris resident Sami Terki said it was “a good thing for now – even mentally – not to go through a new lock”, but added: “The only concern is I think that we will then decide to lock up too late. “
The public health authority said the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care dropped slightly to 3,113. As a sign of the pressure on hospitals, two COVID sufferers were flown from Marseille to western Britain on Friday.
Professor Dominique Rossi, who heads the Marseille Hospitals Medical Commission, said the local authority had asked hospitals in the Bouche-du-Rhone area to 40% of all non-emergency medical interventions. put off.
Managing the flow of COVID and non-COVID patients was “a real ethical headache”, he told Reuters. “The projections (COVID-19) are very worrying and the lack of staff, who are already tired, is another concern. “
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)