French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced Thursday a month-long limited lockdown for Paris and other regions of the country starting Friday as the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units spikes, reports FRANCE 24.
Schools and essential shops, including bookstores, will remain open.
Castex said the new restrictions will take effect from Friday midnight and will last four weeks. The restrictions will be imposed on 16 regions, including the Paris area.
While non-essential businesses will close and movement outside will be restricted in the affected regions, schools will stay open and outdoor exercise allowed up to ten kilometres (6 miles) from home, he said. The curfew will also be reduced, starting at 7pm from Friday.
The progression of the Covid-19 epidemic in France is clearly accelerating, Castex said. "More and more this is looking like a third wave," he told the news conference.
The announcement falls on the week of the one-year anniversary of France’s first nationwide lockdown. President Emmanuel Macron made the announcement on March 16th and the lockdown went into effect at midday on March 17th 2020, and ended 55 days later on May 10th.
France's second lockdown in November spared schools, although France never did achieve the president's objective of bringing new infections down to under 5,000 per day, with the numbers plateauing before beginning to rise again in 2021.
On January 16th, France introduced a 6pm curfew that was initially planned for 15 days but is still ongoing.