Corona in Europe: France President Macron orders third national lockdown
New Delhi: President of France Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announced a third national lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus. “Schools would close for three weeks as he sought to push back the third wave of Covid-19 infection that threatens to overwhelm the hospitals,” President Emmanuel Macron said.
The French President was forced to abandon his goal of keeping the country open to protect the economy.
“We will lose control if we do not move now,” President Macron said after the country’s Intensive Care Units (ICUs) hit hardest.
According to a media report – For school-children after this weekend, learning will be done remotely for a week, after which schools go on a two-week holiday, which for most of the country will be earlier than scheduled. Thereafter, nursery and primary pupils will return to school while middle and high school pupils continue distance learning for an extra week.
Macron said, “it is the best solution to slow down the virus.”
The French health authority reporting daily infections cases double since February. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care has breached 5,000, exceeding the peak hit during a six-week-long lockdown late last year.
Bed capacity in critical care units will be increased to 10,000, Macron said.
The Finance Ministry of France on the third national lockdown said that “The new lockdown risks slowing the pace of France’s economic recovery from last year’s slump. It will force the temporary closure of 150,000 businesses at a cost of 11 billion euros ($12.89 billion) per month.”
The French economy plummeted drastically last year due to coronavirus spread in the country. France’s new lockdown underlines the cost of the European Union’s slow rollout of anti-COVID vaccines.
-Vinayak
