The French government has declared a national health emergency in the country from Saturday due to the increased spread of the coronavirus. Nighttime curfews are being imposed for four weeks in nine major French cities.
The state of emergency is being declared after several weeks of a steep rise in the number of infected and hospitalized people. The situation is now such that a tougher approach to the infection is required, according to the government and President Emmanuel Macron.
We must react, he said in a televised statement on Wednesday evening.
The statement came after the number of people being treated in hospitals rose above 9,100 for the first time since June 25.
On Wednesday, 22,951 new cases of infection were confirmed in the country. The number of deaths also rose, by 104, and now 33,037 people in France have died after being infected.
Macron says the second wave of infections differs from the first in that it is spread across the country. Camps are worrying, according to the president, who also says the authorities have not lost control.
The previous national health emergency, declared this spring, was lifted in July.
According to Macron, a curfew will apply between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. in nine major cities – including Paris, Lille, Lyon and Toulouse.
The curfews apply from Saturday and for four weeks onwards.
Macron also urges French households to have no more than six people around the dinner table at the same time.
To slow the accelerating infection in Catalonia, Spain, bars and restaurants will be closed for 15 days, according to the region's leader Pere Aragonès.
The measures will come into effect on the night between Thursday and Friday and will initially be in effect for 15 days, he says, adding that the restrictions are "painful but necessary.".
Spain is one of the European countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. More than 33,000 people have died after being diagnosed with COVID-19 and almost 900,000 have been confirmed infected.
Similar restrictions have been introduced in several other European countries, such as the Netherlands.
Source: TT
