France’s overseas territories, in particular the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, are being hit hard by Covid-19, President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday, reports FRANCE 24.
"The situation is dramatic," Macron said as he opened a virtual meeting with his senior cabinet ministers to discuss the epidemic.
France's government had on Tuesday warned of an "extremely serious" Covid-19 crisis in the country's overseas territories, especially in the Caribbean, saying that infection rates had climbed to levels unprecedented on the mainland.
Martinique tightened a lockdown and told tourists to leave while similar measures were also expected on the nearby French overseas territory of Guadeloupe, a huge blow to the Caribbean islands at the height of the summer season.
While well over half of people in mainland France have now received two Covid-19 vaccination doses, rates in the country’s overseas territories, from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, have lagged well behind.